generation

The problem is not that middle managers are retiring en masse. Generation Z doesn’t want their job.

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The inverted population pyramid that we have in Spain means that hundreds of thousands of professionals with decades of experience behind them retire every year. Area directors, zone managers, team leaders and other intermediate and management positions that have sustained the structures for decades. The problem is not their exit, which should be a normal and expected process, the real challenge for companies is that now no one wants to take your place. The situation even has a technical name “succession crisis” and the data confirm it. According to data collected in the report ‘Human value: global trends on the future of work‘ Prepared by Manpower Group, 57% of companies globally recognize that their aging workforce is already affecting their human resources strategy. Key management positions are retiring and Generation Z does not seem willing to fill them. Reasons are not lacking. Retirements skyrocket. The first to reach retirement age have been the generation of baby boomersbut the first members of generation Only in Spain, in 2024 they registered 368,065 new retirements, 12.6% more than the previous year, while the 345,000 retirements registered in 2025 show a sustained rhythm for the following years. As pointed out to ExpansionAccording to Óscar Berumen, CEO of Grupo Viraal, what is lost with these departures is not just a vacant position: “When a company lets these profiles go, it loses technical knowledge, strategic memory and a deep way of understanding the business.” It is a type of knowledge that is not contracted with a typical job offer. Generation Z is very clear that they do not want to ascend. The phenomenon even has a name: conscious unbossingor the total disengagement from decision-making positions that generation Z is putting into practice. According to a survey From recruiting firm Robert Walters, 52% of Gen Z professionals actively avoid middle management positions throughout their career. 69% describe them as roles in which a high level of stress is required, in exchange for low financial reward. In other words, the salary improvement that companies offer does not compensate for the additional mental load that promotion entails, which is why young people from Generation Z are not willing to give up mental health or reconciling their personal life. According to the latest data for 2024 from the INEthe average salary of those under 25 years of age in Spain was 1,372.8 euros. Take on more responsibilities without real compensationGraphic is not the most attractive proposal, which is why many young people prefer to fulfill their current positions and maintain conditions compatible with their personal life. AI accelerates the problem from another side. As if the refusal to promote was not enough, the emergence of AI in the workplace has added another reason to stay away from promotions. According the data collected by Revelio Labs for Business Insiderjob offers for middle managers in the US were 42% lower than the maximum recorded in April 2022. The consulting firm Gartner calculated that by 2026 one in five companies will use AI to eliminate more than half of their middle management positions. The last ones layoffs in big technology such as Amazon, Google or Meta have not occurred in a context of financial crisis, but have been carried out with the intention of flattening internal structures. This flattening has especially affected to middle management who were dedicated to transferring the objectives to the rest of the staff and managing their execution. Now that job AI is going to automate itwhich is why young people do not want to play those roles and put a target on their back in the next round of layoffs. A perfect storm. According to estimates of the report According to ManPower Group, by 2030, more than one in four workers in advanced economies will be over 55 years old. Generation Among millennials, that figure rises somewhat more, to 56%, but it is still a minority. Companies that operate with structures designed for linear upward trajectories face the major problem that that model no longer fits the way young people understand work today. The gap left by boomers and generation X will not disappear just because of the passage of time. Organizations will have to decide whether to redesign the role of middle managers to make it attractive again, or they learn to function without them. In Xataka | Finding a job had always been a good way to escape poverty: in Spain it is no longer true Image | Unsplash (tommao wang)

In atomized times, the Spanish generation Z is finding a strange refuge in ‘Los Serrano’ and ‘No one here lives’

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“I’m looking forward to the long weekend and finishing the season. The Serranos“A 15-year-old student I recently taught recognized me. Yes, 15 years. Possibly the combination of that phrase and that idea gives us a short circuit: we are talking about a series that ended in 2008; when she hadn’t even started kindergarten. I couldn’t contain myself and as someone who did grow up with Diego Serrano, the brush and the boom for Fran Perea, I had to ask him where that passion had come from. It came through clips on TikTok. That content of a few minutes and loose decontextualized fragments were not enough, and they turned something that began as a simple curiosity into a true marathon to know in detail what happened to Eva and Marcos, the most famous stepbrothers on TV in the 2000s. A fiction as iconic as that, but for generation millennialhad found its new primary audience in Generation Z. I was surprised, of course, but the idea stayed in the back of my head, like a specific issue to which I should not give more importance. Like when your friend tells you that she is pregnant and suddenly you start noticing people on the street and you discover something that we could almost classify as a baby epidemic; Shortly after, another teenage student, whom we will call Victoria, shows me her pending homework on her tablet. Between irregular verbs and vocabulary to learn, I look at the wallpaper: nothing less than ‘Santa Justa Klan‘, the fictional (and not so fictional) group that was formed in ‘Los Serrano’. At this point, I was already ‘mode’Queen’s Gambit‘, projecting theories on the ceiling about something so strange to understand and that he was also seeing everywhere. Just a few weeks ago, at the next table in a restaurant, a group of university girls revealed in their talk that this is not just about ‘The Serranos‘. To a certain extent, declaring yourself a fan of ‘There is no one who lives here‘It is understandable with the common thread that it has with an already veteran series, but still in broadcast, like ‘The one that is coming‘. The thing is that they start quoting ‘The boarding school’, ‘Physics or Chemistry‘, ‘The ship’ or ‘Paco’s men‘, debating passionately about how the revival Prime Video of the first one does not have one bit of the quality of the original. Once again, I could not contain myself, and I assailed them with my doubts about how they had arrived at these fictions so typical of my generation and not so much of theirs. The same pattern: discovery on social networks, the possibility of watching all seasons on platforms or even through those fragments, and the echo chamber that is created in classes and groups of friends. That week-by-week phenomenon effect that we’ve barely seen since ‘Game of Thrones‘, is being achieved organically in the middle classes of Spain. Some actors are still relevant today, and although it is difficult to think that all the youth have come to ‘El Barco’ by looking at the IMDb of Mario Casas or ‘El Internado’ doing the same with Ana de Armascould make sense in certain cases. None of that: it is the series itself is what hooks you so many years later. This is how Catalina, one of these girls, recognizes it: “I’m finishing The Boarding School; When I do it I plan to tell my little sister to start it.” The generational contrast is more than evident, and the lapidary phrase that unsettles an entire generation millennial who, like me, has grown up with ‘Three meters above the sky‘ and ‘SMS without fear of dreaming‘ is pronounced by Sara, to whom her friends were highly recommending ‘El Barco’: “Ah, but Mario Casas went out there? I had no idea.” From meme to marathon The furor over the story of Lucas and Sara from ‘Paco’s Men’ or the crazy theories that ‘El Internado’ sparked now do not begin on television, waiting week after week for a new chapter. Rather the opposite occurs; Like almost everything in recent years, it all starts with the mobile. If before you watched a series and then it was when the meme festival began on the networks, now the journey is the other way around, from the meme it goes to television. And whoever says meme says fancams or fragments of interviews that awaken interest in those fictions dosmileras. “I started watching the story of Teté and Guille in parts on TikTok and I couldn’t stop,” one of my students reminded me. So, the clip opens the door and the series does the rest, becoming almost an involuntary trailer. And, really, this fragmented and instant format is very much in line with the current consumption model. Everything has to be quick, that captures your attention in the first seconds and encourages you to consume something, of whatever nature. So it is no coincidence that the algorithm works as a perfect cultural programmer for generation Z, a tool that prioritizes the high emotional or humorous charge it has in the love drama of Lucas and Sara or in the phrases from Bethlehem to his greatest ally. This resurgence poses a very curious paradox: in the era of rapid consumption, these young people return to long, choral series designed to be watched without any rush. We are also talking about fictions that achieved audience figures that were unthinkable on current television (‘There is no one who lives here‘ either’ The Serranos‘ reached 7,000,000 spectators), so all the merit of their revival It cannot fall on social networks or on the virality of certain clips. In a sea of ​​platforms and on-demand content, available at any time, something unique and special must have that 2000s television imagery. One of the keys is probably the ID with the characters. Even today, many university students from Generation Z find in Belén or Emilio from ‘No one lives here’ that reflection of work … Read more

The generation that paid not to see ads has changed its mind. And Netflix has been the main beneficiary

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Netflix’s ad-supported plan It already reaches 250 million people a monthtwice as much as a year ago. What started as a defensive bet to retain subscribers who were unsubscribing has become the model that defines where the market is going. streaming. Why is it important. The psychological barrier against advertisements has not been broken by any image campaign or by any rebranding. He has broken it the price. The plan with advertising costs 8.99 euros per month. The standard without ads, 14.99. This difference of six euros per month, or its equivalent in different regions, is what has convinced 250 million people to accept advertising interruptions in the service for which they previously paid precisely to not have them. Netflix has not changed its users’ attitude toward ads. He just put a number in front of it. The context. Netflix launched this plan in November 2022 as a kind of concession. The company had lost subscribers that year for the first time in a decade and needed a cheaper option for users who were threatening to leave. The hypothesis was to retain customers on the margin. Three years later, that second-tier plan has become the company’s growth engine. Between the lines. The real movement is not the 250 million users. They are the ads that those users are going to see. Netflix has announced that it is testing a personalization tool that adjusts ads based on each account’s viewing habits. Anyone who watches a lot of crime series will see different ads than someone who binge-watches romantic comedies. When that system matures, Netflix will not sell generic advertising space but rather qualified attention to segmented audiences with a level of precision that classic TV cannot offer. Advertisers are much more interested in reaching a million people who are likely to buy their product than ten million who don’t care. New phase. Netflix plans to extend the ads to his feed vertical video for mobilethe one that has just been released, and also to the podcasts that it added to the platform last year. The company is also expanding the advertising plan to 15 new countries, including the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and Indonesia. Netflix’s advertising business is no longer an experiment but a line of income with its own ambition. Yes, but. A few days ago, a US prosecutor presented a lawsuit against Netflix alleging that it has misled subscribers about what data it collects to serve advertising. If it prospers, or if other states follow the same path, Netflix could suffer restrictions that directly affect the tool that allows it to sell that personalized advertising. The new Netflix’s most valuable asset is the behavioral data of 250 million viewers. And that asset now has a lawsuit over it. In Xataka | The death of television as a center of attention: Netflix writes its scripts thinking about the “second screen” Featured image | Xataka

Excess control is triggering the anxiety of an entire generation of children

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They are there for everything. They solve problems before they appear, supervise every school assignment, do every basic procedure, intercede with teachers and leave no room for failure. This description, which for decades has been disguised as ‘unconditional love’ and ‘protection’, for science is simply helicopter parenting. A way of being parents that, although it seems to be very beneficial for the little ones, the reality is that it is taking its toll on the autonomy and emotions of current generations. A confirmed epidemic. When researchers look at the impact of helicopter parenting on a large scale, there really isn’t much of a doubt. For this we can go to a recent Norwegian systematic review which analyzed 38 independent studies, where it was found that between 70% and 90% of the research points to a relationship between excessive parental control and mental distress. And, on the other hand, no study pointed to a reduction in stress. This is reinforced by a extensive meta-analysis of 53 studieswhich shows that this predictive style drastically reduces self-efficacy, worsens academic performance and increases different mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety in young people. No room to mature. The consequences of constantly “flying over” your children’s lives reach their tipping point when they reach university or enter the job market, where they suddenly have to mature overnight to face the usual problems without parental protection. Although we have already seen some Spanish universities asking parents not to go to higher education centers to claim in the name of their children that they are of legal age. And that these generations that have been so protected is later translated in less personal determination, a greater fear of intimacy when faced with something difficult and problems of social integration. The fact of not having faced frustrations in controlled environments because they have been avoided, ultimately leads to a fear of failure and, therefore, an avoidance of facing problems. Ultimately, maturation towards a functional adult is delayed. The academic impact. In this sense, already in 2017 a large study pointed out that university students with “helicopter parents” report lower academic performance, with worse social integration and, above all, with greater dependence on medications such as anxiolytics to deal with the psychological discomfort caused by the new reality. The figures behind it. Here, a recent work carried out with 697 Turkish adolescents pointed out that mothers have overprotective attitudes in 15.% of cases, compared to 8.8% that corresponds to fathers. Furthermore, the problem has early roots, since longitudinal studies show that high parental control is capable of predicting future depression in children. since 11 years old. And in the Spanish context, some analyzes suggest that structural factors such as continuous intensive work hours combined with pressure for academic success outside of school may be aggravating these patterns in current generations, creating a perfect breeding ground for overprotection. The mental cost. The psychological mechanism behind this emotional disaster is well documented and indicates that helicopter parenting frustrates the most basic psychological needs of minors, and above all autonomy. By removing them from different situations, the message sent to them is that they are not capable of doing it on their own, causing their self-esteem to plummet and they fail to value their abilities. This, in complicated situations such as decision-making in adulthood, is where the true effect of this overprotection will be seen, since it has always been resolved. And this is something that will mark them a lot. Images | freepik In Xataka | Adolescents up to 32 years old: neuroscience explains why the brain takes much longer than we thought to mature

Alcohol needs to win over a generation that is becoming less interested in alcohol. Your strategy: offer something else

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The alcohol industry has come to an interesting conclusion. Maybe Generation Z is less interested for the drink that millennialsbut that does not make it immune to an age-proof claim: curiosity. Starting from this premise, the companies dedicated to producing distillates and wines have decided to refocus their strategy and bet on new products that appeal to the youngest. And that happens so much for him came no/low as for him tequifresa either Dubai chocolate. The goal is clear: connect with a demographic cohort that seems to be losing interest for alcohol and will decide the future of the industry. What has happened? Basically, Madrid has just said goodbye to the Gourmet Salonone of the largest European fairs for the high-end food and beverage industry. Until then, nothing out of this world or that may be of interest beyond the specialized industry. The curious thing, how has revealed the EFE Agro agency, is that on this occasion at IFEMA not only bottles of traditional wines, craft beers and traditional spirits have been seen. Companies in the sector have wanted to bet on new unorthodox products and flavors to awaken the curiosity of customers. And that (although at first it may seem anecdotal) is of interest beyond the industry. Why’s that? Because the sector is transforming. Just take a look at the newspaper library to check it out. Although Spain chains record tourism figuresin 2024 the sales recorded by the brewery association fell by second year in a rowsomething that had not happened for more than a decade. The figures Advanced by Circana suggest that the outlook was more promising in 2025, although also with surprise: sales of ‘without’ beer increased almost three times as much as those of alcoholic beverages. Its turnover is still much lower than that of ‘con’ beer, but there is a trend change. And the rest of the drinks? The panorama is similar in the case of wine. The Spanish Oenology Federation estimates that in 2025, 9.35 million of hectoliters, 5.2% less than the previous year. As with beer, its demand is very established and has experienced fluctuations in recent years, but that does not mean that wineries are looking for new business niches. For example, the development of ‘without’ wines or the use of new formatslike packaged broth bag-in-box or served directly from the tap. With respect to spirits, the employers’ association estimates that in 2024 their consumption contracted 3.7%which aggravates the fall that had already suffered in 2023. What is the strategy? From what has been seen these days at IFEMA, the industry wants to go one step further. Bottles of tequila flavored with strawberry, melon, peach or even with even more unorthodox flavors have been promoted on the stands. Orujos Panizo, which has been dedicated to the production of spirits for almost 90 years, has launched, for example, a cream liqueur Dubai chocolate. The objective is clear: to take advantage of the wave of popularity of the sweet and reach out to the young public at a time that, the head of the company recognizes, is not exactly good for the industry. The strategy does not seem misdirected. EFE Agro assures that the demand for some fruit creams with tequila is growing by double digits. Of course, the product starts from “very low” figures. Are there more ideas? Yes. To bet on him tequifresa either meloncello the one known as came no/lowpartially dealcoholized or alcohol-free broths. From being practically unknown in the sector, ‘without’ bottles have begun to sneak into professional tastingscontribute millionaire income to some companies and (above all) generate promising business expectations in the medium term. The specialized medium Italian Food News assures that the ‘without’ wine market expects to expand with a compound annual growth rate of 10% until 2033, expanding its market from 2,000 million to around 5,200. Does consumption change that much? It seems so. And the change is especially interesting among Generation Z, the population cohort born between the mid-1990s and the first decade of this century. Although 76% of young people between 14 and 18 years old admit having tried alcohol at least once in their life and 21% have gotten drunk in the last month, their relationship with drinking is changing. At least when compared to previous generations. “Generation Z drinks less than millennials and these, in turn, less than the boomers“, explains to The Country Andera Mellado, promoter of a ‘sin’ beverage distributor. “They’ve seen how their elders drank and they don’t want to get into that.” Is it just supply and demand? No. It’s something cultural. Habits change, the way of find a partner and to enjoy the leisure. They even change events that until not so long ago were inextricably linked to the “open bar”, like weddings. The vocabulary is also transformed. Terms become popular straight edge and Dry January and Anglo-Saxon expressions like superb curious, mindful living either zebra stripingwhich identify new ways of approaching drinking. That of course doesn’t mean that alcohol has disappeared from Generation Z’s radar or there are no more bottles. 28% of young people recognize that in the last month they have binged on alcohol, the so-called bringe drinking. What do the studies say? That in general there is a decrease in alcohol intake. Although Spain has one of the higher levels of consumption, WHO data show that the average per capita has decreased in recent decades. If in 1975 it reached 18.5 l (pure alcohol), in 2022 it was already around 11.7. The study on consumption among younger youth (14-18 years old) from the Ministry of Health also shows a gradual loss of interest in drinking over recent years, especially since the middle of the last decade, although in both cases it is a trend with fluctuations. Images | Panizo Distilleries, Vitaly Gariev (Unsplash), Vitaly Gariev (Unsplash) and Ministry of Health In Xataka | Having a beer or a wine at 65 seems like a harmless indulgence. We have more and more evidence to … Read more

Generation Z is uploading videos of their work routines to TikTok and Instagram, and it is already a phenomenon

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If we have learned anything from social networks, it is that everything can be contained, including boring office work. After all there are people hooked on toilet cleaning videosso it’s not that strange. Worktok. It’s how these creators, most of them very young, tag the content they publish about their work. Browsing the hashtag we found mostly humorous gags about work life, but digging a little deeper we found all kinds of videos. There are those who tell their routine, those who use it as a space to vent to complain about their bosses and even those who broadcast his dismissal live. There is a subcategory within this trend and it is the ‘Quittok’, that is, young people who tell why they want to resign from their jobs. Some they even record themselves doing it. Viral. It is not an anecdotal phenomenon, the hashtag #worktok It has already accumulated almost 300,000 publications and the total views amount to 1.8 billion. What has led so many people to share details about their work life? The label began to become popular in 2020 during the pandemic. At a time when teleworking was imposed throughout the world, many people began to share their daily lives on TikTok and that also included work. Why is it important. In statements to the BBCAccording to Sara McCorquodale, head of an influencer firm in the United Kingdom, the fact that it has been maintained over time responds to a need to create a community and seek validation online. It’s like looking for that “coffee machine moment” that for many young people does not exist either because they work remotely or because they do not have that connection with their office colleagues. A space of identity. According to McCorquodale, sharing with the world the day-to-day life of work – with its achievements and its dramas – is also a way of reaffirming one’s identity and taking control of the narrative. It is a way of saying that my work life belongs to me and I am going to narrate it as I want, not as the company dictates. It is also a symptom of a broader trend, that of a generation that prioritizes their mental health and well-being over promotions or working hard. They are the opposite of workaholics. Yes, but. Sharing certain company details or recording videos during working hours can cause problems. It’s what It happened to a paint store worker who started recording videos of how he mixed different colors of paint. The company saw the videos and fired him for recording during work hours and using store materials. Primark also fired an employee in the United Kingdom for having recorded TikToks. It doesn’t seem like ‘worktok’ is going to disappear, so both companies and employees will have to adapt and navigate without crossing boundaries. In Xataka | A generation totally disconnected from their work: 80% of “genzers” want to change jobs Image | Vitaly Gariev in Unsplash

Inflation has made the Lotus cookie the “affordable luxury” of Generation Z

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In the English town of Bridgnorth there is a restaurant that bathes its fried chicken in cream and Lotus biscuit crumbs. And there’s no need to go that far: anyone who stops by this week Champions Burger in Alicante You’ll see how this spicy Belgian snack has become the star ingredient, with dozens of people lining up to devour viral burgers dripping with caramelized cookie cream. A quick look through social media is enough to confirm that this little cookie has jumped from screens to menus around the world. But the question is: how is it possible that a small gift, which in the 90s was nothing more than the free accompaniment they gave you with your coffee at the hairdresser, has become a cult product worldwide? The answer, surprisingly, has less to do with baking and much more to do with macroeconomics. To understand the phenomenon, you have to travel to 1932, to the small Belgian town of Lembeke. As explained The Wall Street Journalthat was where the grandfather of the current CEO of Lotus, Jan Boone, created the recipe (which only five people in the world know today) for his particular version of the speculoosa traditional European dessert. The company’s first big leap occurred in the eighties, when, after a shortage of peanuts, the American airline Delta began to distribute this snack on its flights under the name “Biscoff” (a contraction of biscuit and coffee). This gave a generic item an aura of exoticism and air travel. Today, they manufacture 20 million units a day and invoice more than 1,000 million euros annually, as detailed The Times. But the real catalyst for its current success is its positioning. Lisa Harris, co-founder of food consultancy Harris and Hayes, explains in Guardian that Biscoff’s triumph responds to “accessible indulgence.” In a context where the cost of living is stifling consumers, “people are looking for simple ways to feel like they have done something special,” says Harris. Biscoff offers a nostalgic taste, with individual packaging that gives it a premium feel, but at a price that is affordable to anyone. It is, in essence, a cheap luxury. Doom spending: buy so as not to think This concept fits perfectly with a worrying economic and psychological phenomenon that is defining Generation Z and millennials: he doom spending (or catastrophic expense). This habit is defined as the irrational and impulsive expenses made by young people in the face of the overwhelm they feel for the economy and its future. Instability, inflation and job insecurity have created a feeling that traditional milestones are unattainable goals. When the initial payment of a mortgage requires tens of thousands of euros that you do not have, spending just 3 euros on a package of imported sweets or 6 euros on a slice of viral cake becomes a survival and consolation mechanism. This establishes a mentality of “live in the moment”. Morgan Housel, behavioral finance expert, analyzes it in Fortune explaining that this expense is a natural reaction to not having a clear purpose or being able to reach the great steps of adulthood. Seeing heritage purchases as unattainable, young people find refuge in smaller, more everyday material luxuries. However, the relief is temporary. The magazine verywellmind provides psychological perspective of the matter: when we make these purchases to alleviate anxiety, our brain releases dopamine. But once that momentary pleasure fades, “we are left with overwhelming feelings of guilt, remorse, and an intensified sense of anxiety,” psychologist Christopher Fisher explains in that medium. Added to this is what Ylva Baeckström, a finance expert, defined as a “false illusion of control”. In a world that young people perceive as chaotic – a pessimism fueled by the chronic consumption of bad news on the Internet – shopping becomes the steering wheel of a car that, in reality, they do not drive. A native recipe for social networks The role of social networks in this cocktail is fundamental. Biscoff is a native social media recipe. Content creators like Ashley Markle or Fitwaffle accumulate tens of millions of views cooking with this cream, feeding back the desire for immediate consumption. According to data from Intuit Credit Karma43% of Gen Zers admit that TikTok directly influences their impulsive spending. However, this generation is fully aware of the problem in which is immersed. While 41% of young people from Generation Z admit to practicing doom spending and panic buying, at the same time, a similar percentage (around 44%) are trying to adopt lifestyles low-buy (buy little) or no-buy (not buy anything) to try to build savings and pay off debt. It is a constant struggle between the need to save in a suffocating economy and the uncontrollable impulse to seek small doses of happiness and dopamine through consumption. “We want to conquer the world,” confessed Jan Boone, CEO of Lotus, to The Times last year. Judging by the numbers, the supermarket shelves and the countless videos on social media, he is achieving it. But Biscoff’s global triumph is not just the story of a well-baked sweet or a brilliant marketing strategy born in the airline aisles. It is the edible reflection of our time. The next time you see someone digging a caramelized cookie into a cheesecake in front of their phone camera, remember that you’re not just watching a simple viral recipe. You are witnessing the “lipstick effect” of the digital age; the small, sweet and affordable lifeline of a generation trying to chew the anxiety of an economy that is slipping out of their hands. Image | Andrea Piacquadio and Shameel mukkath Text image | Nano Erdozain Xataka | Traveling with a dog is increasingly common, so the European Commission has decided something: mandatory passport

Japan has been cloning the same mouse continuously for 20 years. In the 58th generation, biology has said “enough”

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When we talk about cloning living beings, many of us may think of the famous experiment. with Dolly the sheep. But he was not the only one, since in Japan a biologist has spent the last two decades taking life to its most extreme limit, since since 2005 his team has set itself a major challenge: serially cloning mice from a single original female donor. 20 years and more than 1,000 mice later, the experiment has collided with biology. A collapse. The results of this great cloning experiment were published recently in Nature and reveal the definitive collapse of the genetic line in generation number 58. A very important finding that not only demonstrates that the continued asexual reproduction of mammals is unsustainable, but also shows us why evolution opted so strongly for sexual reproduction and the constant renewal of DNA in our species. His story. The experiment by Japanese researcher Wakayama is a milestone in reproductive biology. In 2013, the team had already managed to clone up to 25 generations, as was then published in Cell Stem Cell; yesHowever, what seemed like a theoretically infinite process began to show serious cracks from generation 25-27. As the generations progressed, birth rates began to plummet, to the point where we are now, where he points out in his latest article that the incessant accumulation of genetic mutations was a constant. Here it was seen how the animals began to have serious genetic alterations with complete losses of chromosomes with a probability three times higher than natural sexual reproduction. Its consequences. That an animal sees its genetic material altered is not harmless, because these alterations were seen to directly affect embryonic development and the placenta, making each new generation more difficult to obtain than the previous one. But the critical point came in generation 58 of the mice, where the model finally collapsed. And the culprit of this collapse was none other than these genetic alterations, which curiously did not alter the physique of the individuals, who seemed completely healthy, but the weight of the genetic damage made it impossible to continue the chain. The impressions. From the Spanish countryside, Lluís Montoliu, CSIC researcher, has qualified this “heroic” experiment, since it suggests that this test would be impossible to do in Europe due to ethical standards and animal welfare that exist. But he sees it as important, since it proves the evolutionary superiority of sexual reproduction. The other side of the coin. Big questions arise here, since if serial cloning fails due to DNA fragmentation and damage… How is biology protected when it uses sexual reproduction? Here the answer is to have a constant renewal of the interior of our cells. Paradoxically, while science shows that copying the same DNA over and over again leads to genetic disaster, new clinical studies on human fertility are revealing that, to maintain the highest quality in male genetic material, frequent renewal is key. But in addition, it also makes it clear that we are still quite far from being able to clone humans to have two identical people, because in the end it is something that can go really wrong. Images | digitale.de In Xataka | A team of experts wants to resurrect extinct bison. There are many reasons to be skeptical

The generational conflict with Generation Z is costing us a lot of money: $56 billion

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There is a silent war in offices around the world over the focus on AI adoption at work. It has no declared sides or visible battles, but its devastating effects already have a price: a scandalously high one. We are not talking about employees who lose their jobs because an AI does its jobwe talk about an intergenerational war that has been declared between the baby boom generation and generation Z due to the discrepancy of use of this technology. The damage it is causing that confrontation It is not nonsense: almost one working day lost per week for each employee, in addition to projects that do not progress and burnt-out workers who, instead of looking for solutions, are looking for a new job. A very very expensive war. A published study by Salesloft and the consulting firm Workplace Intelligence based on surveys of 2,000 employees, puts figures on the intergenerational battle for the implementation of AI and other technologies that is being experienced in some US companies: 56,000 million dollars a year in terms of lost productivity due to conflict between generations. These losses are not due to misuse or ignorance of technology or lack of employee performance, but because boomers and Gen Z have communication problems and have different expectations about balance between work and personal life. A day’s work wasted for not understanding each other. That conflict between employees more veterans and those who have just joined, translates into a combined loss of 5.3 hours per week of lost productivity for each employee. Steve Cox, CEO of Salesloft, explained the phenomenon in his report: “The $56 billion productivity loss is just the visible cost. When AI adoption is fragmented, the damage multiplies and leads to missed forecasts, slower execution, and higher turnover quarter after quarter. At that point, generational conflict is not a culture problem; it is a balance problem.” They prefer to talk to a bot. A relevant fact from the study indicates that 39% of Generation Z respondents say they prefer to be directed by an AI than by a boomer, while 25% of boomers prefer to work with an AI than with a fellow Gen Z. That’s how heated the mood is. The tensions do not remain only in the environment, this intergenerational friction is causing 28% of Generation Z workers to acknowledge that they are looking for another job so they don’t have to work with boomers. Similarly, 19% of boomers say they are considering early retirementpartly because he can’t stand his younger colleagues anymore. AI, gasoline or solution? Although many of them have indicated that they prefer to have a bot as a boss rather than someone from the “rival” generation, artificial intelligence is aggravating the situation instead of softening it. The problem is that 64% of employees admit that they are not even using the AI ​​tools they already have available well. The study reveals that 60% of boomers surveyed believe the way Gen Z uses technology is hurting customer relationships. Young people, on the other hand, respond in the same tone: 64% think that boomers’ resistance to adopting new tools is slowing down innovation, and 63% say that this attitude is costing them many sales. However, there is room for optimism because both generations agree in some aspects. 86% of respondents believe that AI could improve knowledge sharing between generations, 80% that it could reduce the experience gap, and 79% of participants believe that it could improve communication between teams of different ages. The clash is not just about AI: it is about values. Beyond the tools and the adoption of technology, the underlying problem is values ​​at work. 71% of Gen Z respondents believe boomers value plus the hours in the chair than the results obtained, and 56% point them out as those responsible for the toxic environment that exists in many companies. On the other hand, 64% of more veteran employees believe that Gen Z puts your personal life ahead of the job needs. The assessment of these employees is correct and confirms it a study on job preferences among generation Z prepared by the consulting firm Robert Walters. 52% of the young people interviewed stated that avoided promotions to not take on more responsibilities that were not going to translate into economic benefits or a great evolution in their work career, but rather into more stress and loss of work. time for your personal life. In Xataka | We have found the “kryptonite” of Generation Z: they are experts in apps, but they don’t know how to use a printer Image | Freepik (pch.vector)

Generation Z is prioritizing “experience” leisure based on word of mouth

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Bars with decorations set in Disney movies, establishments inspired by the 80s, cafes where you can have a snack with adoptable cats. The offer to go out is increasingly specific, more themed, more designed to surprise. In a country wheremeet for a drink“is part of the social DNA, bars have historically been much more than places of consumption: they have been meeting points where we celebrate and catch up. And this ritual has not disappeared. The study Socialization trends and habits points out that bars, restaurants or cafes are the preferred places to socialize for 79% of Spaniards. A figure that places us above the European average: 63% choose to go to bars compared to 48% of Europeans. This preference also translates into a numerical reality. According to INE dataIn Spain there are more than 163,000 drinking establishments – bars, cafes or pubs – which is approximately one establishment for every 290 inhabitants. That is to say: we continue going out, we continue choosing the bar, but something is changing. Because although the habit remains, the way of deciding and living it responds to new logic. “Youth leisure has been reconfigured” Ana, 29 years old—one of the young women who agreed to speak with Xataka preserving his identity—he acknowledges that he rarely goes to “regular bars,” in fact they make him “quite lazy.” He believes that today the new generations tend to prefer a type of leisure that is far from what their parents could have: “In my group of friends (and in general) I see that we go less and less to traditional bars or restaurants and we prefer slightly different places, or even chains.” Raquel, 22, doesn’t usually go to “normal” bars either. And although if you have friends who have a “neighborhood bar” specifically as a “meeting point”, he understands that new generations are attracted to “different” plans: “For example, I saw a place where you make the pizza yourself, they help you make it and then you eat it. That cannot compete with a restaurant or a bar.” For Alejandro MonteroHealth Psychologist and disseminator in social networksyoung people seem to “prioritize experiences that are memorable beyond a habitual pattern of socialization, as could be seen in other generations.” He comments how before the “most frequent and most accessible plan could be going to a bar”, but today there is a “variability” – from jazz shows among hundreds of candles and workshops to paint a picture while drinking wine, to restaurants themed in Harry Potter – that “influences the choice of the leisure plan.” For Raquel, for example, it is increasingly important that the places where she stays be “pretty”something that does not usually fit with traditional bars: “I would tell you that 90% of traditional bars are not pretty (…) I prefer it to be pretty to look at, better than the typical bar with the steel bar.” In this sense, he understands that his generation is “bored” of having a coffee “where they always do” and prefers to go to places where you can “paint your own cup while having a snack.” The coffee, better specialty. In this context, Esther Clavero Mira, doctor in sociology, warns of the danger of “falling into the temptation of thinking that any time in the past was betteras Jorge Manrique wrote.” She talks about how nostalgia can evoke “crowded discos” or “endless bars” that we no longer see today, and because of that “mental album” we can think that young people no longer go out. However, the psychologist believes that “youthful leisure has not disappeared, it has been reconfigured.” The hospitality sector is also aware of this change. Juanjo Cuevas, who has been dedicated to the hospitality industry for more than 15 years, believes that “the future of traditional bars is complicated.” Run a irish pub in Arganzuela, The Towerswhich he himself places “between the neighborhood bar and the theme bar.” “Irish pubs were set up as themed, but not in the same sense as now,” he clarifies. This intermediate position, he explains, also allows him to attract young people, something that, he believes, other more traditional bars have increasingly difficult to do. He sees how more and more young people are opting for themed establishments and leaving the usual businesses in the background. In addition, along with other colleagues, he has detected a change in consumer habits. “They have stopped going to eat. Young people don’t eat in a normal bar,” he says. He explains that they do still go down to have a drink—“beers or wines under their house”—but that when it comes to sitting down to eat the profile is different: “Here the few that come are from nearby companies, offices or neighbors, but young people come to eat, nothing. And the same thing happens to the bars and restaurants in the area, they go mainly retirees and workers.” Social networks, the new “word of mouth” Irene, a 26-year-old young woman, is sure that new generations are more inclined towards experiences, and attributes a “fundamental” role to social networks: “Everything is spread through them. Thanks to social networks I have discovered a lot of plans that I would never have discovered on my own.” For Elena, 27 years old, these platforms are a “great source of information” to obtain “recommendations, compare and see opinions…”. This shows that the change in the type of leisure also affects how it is organized, discovered or decided: “Social networks are the new word of mouth,” explains Ana. Alcohol, better with experiences. According to Montero, in 2024 68% of young people At the national level, they reported the daily use of social networks, something that “affects the way they relate to each other.” They not only influence the accessibility and knowledge of new experiences, but also the construction of a public identity: what we decide to show and share with others. In this search for a “life narrative”, social networks offer young people infinite possibilities to fill their lives with … Read more

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