The Future Report

While the Baby Boomers are currently more active in the workforce for their age than the generation before them, over the next decade we will see a significant changing of the guard as the youngest of the Baby Boomers move past 65 and ease out of the workforce. When they do, they will leave a very significant knowledge, labour, and leadership gap for the following generations to take up. But that...

Generation Z describes those born between 1995 and 2009, placing them today aged between 13 and 27. While many of them are students, in just a few years they will comprise a third of the workforce. In our work we find so many people wanting to understand the mindset and perspective of Gen Z; who they are, what is important to them, and how to remain relevant for this emerging generation. Joining A...

Today we want to talk about a word or phrase that made its way to the Oxford English Dictionary Word of the Year in 2020 which is: Cancel Culture. As social researchers, each week are deploying surveys and analysing demographic and community data. We gather content from focus groups and in-depth interviews and draw out the trends. That is social research. While analysing these data sets gives us s...

A few weeks ago, the latest Census results were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. While there were a lot of interesting findings, one big generational shift has occurred in the last five years: the Millennials have overtaken the Baby Boomers to become the largest generation.  So, in today’s episode, Ashley Fell sits down with Social Researcher, Geoff Brailey to talk about this...

Welcome back to another season of The Future Report! Over the last few weeks, Mark McCrindle and Ashley Fell have been out travelling and sharing insights at conferences in Europe and the United States, which after two years of closed borders has been a bit of a treat! In today’s episode, our host, Ashley Fell sits down with social researcher, Mark McCrindle to discuss international conferences an...

Once every five years in Australia, we have the night that stops the nation, the census night. The Australian Bureau of Statistics then works busily away and analyses and compiles the data for almost a year and then releases it to the nation. For us, self-professed data nerds at McCrindle, the release day feels like our Christmas’ have all come at once, with a brand new data snapshot of the nation...

The education sector is at the centre of many different trends. From changing generations of students and teachers to adapting the curriculum to suit the future of work to respond to changes brought about by the pandemic, to focusing on teacher and student wellbeing and collecting data and knowing what to do with it. Clearly, there is a lot on the plate for those working in the sector! Therefore,...

Have you ever thought about whether you are an ‘anywhere’ or ‘somewhere’ type of person? If you are an ‘anywhere’ type of person, it is likely that you can find home, community, or work, anywhere. On the other hand, if you are a ‘somewhere’ person, it is likely that you have strong connections to a particular place. As people continue to move and relocate, the idea of how we define our identity, a...

At McCrindle, we love to talk about the generations. Today’s high school students and those in their early twenties belong to Generation Z, who were born between the years 1995 and 2009. If you parent, lead or engage with this generation in any context, you will know that they are quite different from those who have gone before. The questions on many people’s mind is, how do we best care for this...

If you are old enough to remember dial-up, when you had to wait for the internet to connect and when the world wasn’t in our pockets, it’s a pretty stark contrast to the world shaping children today. In the last two decades, technology has advanced at lightning speed, and it can be challenging to keep up for all of us – no matter what generation we are a part of. Especially since something we were...

Analysing baby names paints a fascinating picture of the era that we live in. The Builders generation (born before 1945) chose traditional names such as Peter, Paul, John, Karen, Jennifer, or Sharon for their children. In the 1980s, the Baby Boomers began drawing on baby name books for inspiration and trends. Meanwhile, today’s parents, Generation Y (also known as the Millennials), are not only ch...

Thankyou™ is an organisation founded in Australia that seeks to serve people living in extreme poverty by redistributing wealth, from consumer spending. Thankyou provides consumers with alternate product choices for body care and baby care. When people purchase these products, it allows shoppers to purchase products that have a positive impact for those living in poverty. If you live in Australia,...

While most people have an interest in the future, educators have a direct role in shaping it, as they educate and equip the emerging generations. Importantly, this impact is recognised and appreciated by students. Our research shows that 70% of students can think of at least one teacher who has made a massive, positive difference in their life. Yet, amidst this positive student feedback, the waves...

If you know anyone born between the years of 1995 and 2009, then you know a Gen Z. Gen Zs are digital integrators who have been shaped in an era of social media and digital technology. While this generation are our high school students of today, the oldest of them are approaching their late twenties. Many of them may be in leadership roles in their workplaces and some even parents! In this episode...

Workplace culture is so important, yet it can be hard to define and measure. It can be an intangible thing, but something that impacts almost all aspects of an organisation, from productivity to employee satisfaction and retention. It is intrinsically linked to an organisation’s ability to succeed. In this episode, our host, Ashley Fell will be speaking to another thought leader in this space abou...

For the last two years, our lives have been significantly interrupted. We didn’t go out. We didn’t socialise much. We mostly interacted through a screen. Similar to the atrophy of muscles when underused, recent lockdowns and restrictions have impacted our social stamina and social fitness. Understandably, as the world opens up, we’re now having to use social skills that we haven’t had to use in a...

A fundamental human need that we all have is a place to call home. While the Great Australian Dream of home ownership is still alive and well among the emerging generations, it seems incredibly unattainable due to a combination of demographic and social trends. In this episode, host Ashley Fell sits down with Geoff Brailey to discuss the fading dream of home ownership.

Workplace culture can be complex to define and measure. There are many terms that stem from the word 'culture', anthropologists use the term to describe how people live. As social researchers, we define culture simply: ‘It’s how we do things around here.’ It’s the character and personality, the procedures and values, the purpose and ambition, the structures and traditions, and the pattern of behav...

We are living in an age of digital disruption, in what we call ‘The Great Screenage’, where we now spend more time on our devices, than we ever have before. In these technologically integrated times, our attention spans are short. In times of message saturation and information overload, if you have important data to communicate, it can be harder than ever to cut through the noise. We know the impo...

When you think of great leaders, who do you envision? Martin Luther King? Mother Theresa? Greta Thunberg? Author John Maxwell gave a helpful definition of leadership when he said, ‘Leadership is influence , nothing more, nothing less.’ Because everyone has a level of influence, it can be argued that everyone is a leader in one context or another. The challenge is in both how we wield our influence...

This week, people all over the world are celebrating International Women’s Day, a global holiday celebrating the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. In celebration, our host, Ashley Fell is sitting down with a woman who many of our McCrindle team respect and look up to, Richenda Vermeulen. Richenda is the founder and CEO of digital agency ntegrity. She is also a mum and a...

As the times continue to change, expectations among consumers are shifting. Our research shows that people want to know what positive differences organisations are making. Enter social impact. Social impact is more than describing the activities an organisation does. It is the outcome of that work, and the changes that have occurred because of it. While 'social impact' isn’t a new term, we have no...

When you think about executive boards and governance, what do you think?  As our world becomes more complex, organisations are navigating changing social attitudes, demographic shifts, and technological disruptions. Boards play an important role in guiding the future of an organisation, and there's a shift happening with Millennials coming through in senior leadership roles. To discuss this i...

For a long time, the term “Millennials” was synonymous with young people. However, today these ‘young people’ are well into their 30s, having children of their own and emerging as leaders as they gain experience in their careers. In this episode, we delve into Millennials (also known as Gen Y) and their career expectations, how they differ from older generations, the challenges they face in the wo...

There is no doubt that the experience of the last two years has been transformative. Looking to the year ahead, we foresee important demographic, economic, social, technological, environmental, and political shifts to take place. As futurists, we believe that it is essential that leaders are equipped with an understanding of how to spot the trends, and what those trends are. So, what can we expect...