9 Things Gen Z Doesn’t Care About At All But Millennials And Boomers Can’t Let Go

They’re not rebelling. That would require caring enough to fight. Gen Z just looked at a bunch of things older generations treat as sacred and decided they weren’t that important. Not worth arguing about. Not worth preserving. Just… optional.

This drives Millennials and Boomers crazy, and not always for bad reasons. Some of these things genuinely mattered. Some of them were the foundation of how older generations built identity, community, and meaning. Watching someone shrug at what you organized your life around is disorienting.

But Gen Z isn’t wrong to question. Every generation gets to decide what they inherit and what they leave behind. Here’s what they’re leaving.

Related: 7 Reasons Boomers Say They Hate Working With Gen Z (And Why They’re Kind Of Right)

1. Owning a car as a status symbol

For Boomers, a car was freedom. For Millennials, it was a necessary expense they resented but accepted. For Gen Z, it’s increasingly optional — and definitely not a marker of success.

Between ride-sharing, urban living preferences, environmental concerns, and the insane cost of car ownership, many Gen Zers just don’t see the point. They’ll Uber to your party without shame. The idea that a vehicle reflects your value as a person seems genuinely bizarre to them.

2. Formal workplace dress codes

Suits. Business casual. The careful performance of professionalism through clothing choices. Older generations understood this as respect — for the job, for colleagues, for the institution.

Gen Z sees it as theater. Why does a button-down make you better at your job? Workplace research increasingly supports their skepticism — dress codes don’t correlate with productivity or professionalism in any meaningful way. They’re just legacy rituals that feel more like conformity than respect.

3. Brand loyalty

Boomers had their brands. Millennials developed relationships with companies they felt aligned with their values. Gen Z comparison-shops for everything and feels zero guilt about it.

They’ll switch phone carriers for a better deal. They’ll buy generic without embarrassment. The concept of being “a Ford family” or loyal to a particular airline reads as marketing-induced delusion. Consumer research confirms it — Gen Z has the lowest brand loyalty of any measured generation.

4. The mystique of paying your dues

Work hard now, suffer through the grunt work, and eventually you’ll earn your place. This narrative shaped Boomer and Millennial early careers. The hazing was the point. It built character.

Gen Z sees this as exploitation with extra steps. Why should misery be a prerequisite for respect? Why should inefficiency be preserved because that’s how it was done before? They’re not lazy — they just don’t see unnecessary suffering as noble.

5. Phone calls

Call me when you get a chance. Just wanted to hear your voice. Let me call you about this.

To older generations, phone calls are connection. To Gen Z, they’re interruptions that demand immediate attention with no context about what’s needed or how long it will take. A text respects someone’s time. A call hijacks it.

This isn’t social anxiety (though that exists too). It’s a genuine preference for asynchronous communication that older generations read as avoidance but Gen Z experiences as courtesy.

6. Keeping politics out of everyday life

Don’t discuss politics at dinner. Keep your views to yourself in professional settings. There’s a time and place.

Gen Z grew up watching climate change accelerate, school shootings normalize, and political decisions reshape their futures in real-time. The idea that politics is separate from regular life seems delusional to them. Everything is political. Pretending otherwise is just choosing the status quo.

7. Traditional career ladders

Join a company. Work your way up. Stay loyal for decades. Retire with a pension and a gold watch.

This model was already breaking down for Millennials, but Gen Z has fully abandoned it as a framework. They expect to change jobs frequently, build portfolio careers, prioritize flexibility over stability, and measure success in ways that don’t require corner offices.

Research on Gen Z career attitudes shows they’re not less ambitious — they’re just playing a different game with different rules.

8. Gatekeeping expertise

You can’t have an opinion about film unless you’ve studied it. You can’t criticize something unless you’ve tried to make it yourself. Credentials matter. Expertise must be earned through proper channels.

Gen Z has access to tutorials, courses, communities, and information that previous generations had to attend institutions to obtain. They’re self-taught filmmakers, coders, musicians, and critics. The gatekeeping feels less like quality control and more like hoarding.

9. Performative positivity

Everything happens for a reason. Just stay positive. Good vibes only.

Older generations often treat optimism as a moral duty and negativity as a character flaw. Gen Z is more comfortable sitting with discomfort, naming problems without immediately pivoting to silver linings, and acknowledging that some things are just bad.

This reads as cynicism to optimists. To Gen Z, it’s honesty. Research on toxic positivity increasingly validates their skepticism — forced optimism often makes people feel worse, not better.

Related: 8 Habits Boomer Parents Refuse To Change That Are Slowly Losing Them Their Grandchildren

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The generational gap here isn’t really about these specific things. It’s about what happens when a generation inherits a world that doesn’t match the promises made about it.

Boomers built systems. Millennials tried to work within them while gently pushing back. Gen Z looked at the systems, looked at the outcomes, and decided wholesale adoption wasn’t required.

They’re not disrespectful. They’re just unconvinced. And the things they’re unconvinced about might have been shakier than anyone wanted to admit.

What feels like apathy is often just clarity. What looks like not caring is sometimes just caring about different things. The older generations don’t have to like it. But they might have to accept that the world Gen Z is building won’t look like the one they imagined passing down.

That’s not tragedy. That’s just what every generation does.