Mad Hedge Technology Letter
February 21, 2024
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(THE HIRING QUAGMIRE IN TECH)
(GENZ)
Tag Archive for: (GENZ)
A slightly worrisome trend is emerging from the tech world and it has to do with the future of the American tech worker.
These employees could pose quite a conundrum to tech companies in the near future that could drastically affect the results they desire.
Something needs to change or there could be many open gaps that cannot be filled.
As the baby boomers age out of the job market and are replaced, it’s not necessarily the Millennial generation that is the big problem, it’s Gen Z.
Gen Z is more or less having a hard time committing to even an interview based on fresh data from digital recruitment sites.
As tech companies vow to make leanness mandatory, this doesn’t bode well for the volume of tech hiring for Gen Z who are in their 20s.
Remember when friends of friends could get Facebook management jobs only to sip on lattes all day at the in-house coffee bar, well, that job doesn’t exist anymore because even Facebook is ridding itself of the slack. Those jobs were mainly dominated by Millennials up until the pandemic and have vanished with the pressure of higher inflation.
No more hiring to make it look like tech companies are bigger than they are. Tech firms can’t afford it anymore.
Results matter now and the up-and-coming generation who were extremely coddled as teenagers are having a hard time coming to terms with reality.
Now Gen Z is treating their would-be employers like bad first dates and not showing up for scheduled job interviews or even their first day on the job without as much as a phone call.
Employment website Indeed found that job ghosting is rampant by Gen Z, with 75% of workers saying they’ve ignored a prospective employer in the past year.
A head-spinning 93% of Gen Zers told the global recruitment platform that they’ve flaked out of an interview.
Worse still, a staggering 87% managed to charm their way through interviews, secure the job, and sign the contract, only to leave their new boss stranded on the very first day.
Unsurprisingly, it’s having the opposite effect on businesses left high and dry: More than half of businesses surveyed have said that ghosting has made hiring a harder and costlier process.
Almost half of those surveyed said they plan on pulling a disappearing act again, with a third deeming it acceptable to do so before an interview.
However, unlike Gen Z who feel emboldened, older workers say they instantly regret it.
What’s more, while more than half of Gen Zers are repeat offenders, the researchers found that a candidate’s likelihood to ghost again decreases with age.
For many employers, Indeed’s data will finally confirm their suspicions that Gen Z has commitment issues.
Indeed found that the cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated ghosting, with around 40% of those surveyed admitting that they're more likely to ghost if they find a job offering better pay or a cheaper commute.
Tech companies are in a race against time to automate using AI, because dipping into the Gen Z talent pool could be not being able to fill staff numbers.
Even if Gen Z employees do get hired, they do tend to disappear without a trace quite quickly.
Either way, tech companies will need to find a solution for a young US workforce that isn’t Silicon Valley material.
AI is arriving at just the right time to save their bacon.
Mad Hedge Bitcoin Letter
October 27, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(SILVER LININGS)
(BTC), (GOOGL), (GENZ)
With all the Dr. Dooms out there, and you know there are plenty, it might seem like a broken record.
Crypto’s been kicked around, mocked, and left for dead so many times, you’d think it owed Wall Street money. With all the criticism hurled its way lately, you'd be forgiven for thinking it has no future. But I wouldn't bet on that.
The road ahead for crypto is lined with silver linings. Not obvious to the casual observer, perhaps, but impossible for any sharp-eyed investor to ignore.
Let’s talk Google or Alphabet, if you want to be formal about it. Their latest earnings didn’t mention crypto by name, but the subtext was loud and clear. The advertising landscape is shifting. Payments are evolving. And guess who's still lingering in the machinery? Crypto.
In 2025 alone, the blockchain-in-media and advertising market clocked in at a cool $2.68 billion. That’s not chump change. It’s proof that crypto-related ad spend hasn’t vanished but simply changed costumes. The industry didn’t disappear. Instead, it adapted.
So when a behemoth like Google starts missing its growth targets, part of that slowdown reflects a deeper truth: money is moving differently now. And crypto, along with its Web3 cousins, is very much a part of that evolution.
Meanwhile, financial firms are still splashing ad dollars across every media channel that can spell ROI. And while not every banner screams Bitcoin, the underlying infrastructure - wallets, exchanges, DeFi platforms - is still feeding the ecosystem. Big media still wants those clicks, and crypto still delivers the eyeballs.
But forget ad dollars for a second. The more important asset is the audience.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Plenty of retail traders got torched during the last cycle. Some won’t touch crypto again if you paid them in Ethereum. Despite that, the appetite among younger investors is as strong as ever.
Case in point: Gemini’s 2024–2025 survey showed over 51% of Gen Z respondents worldwide have owned, or still own, some form of crypto. In the U.S., that number held steady.
Meanwhile, a separate US investment trends report found that 48% of Gen Z investors are using crypto exchanges. That’s more than those using traditional financial advisors.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise though. After years of arbitrary lockdowns and enough inflation to make your grocery bill look like a car payment, younger generations are rethinking everything. They find traditional retirement plans suspicious. They think the US financial system is rigged. These folks have gone from skeptical to cynical.
And who can blame them? The stock market got clobbered in 2022, and it hasn’t exactly been a parade since. Bonds didn’t offer much comfort either. This might be yet another year where both stocks and bonds disappoint - a double whammy that laughs in the face of your grandpa’s 60/40 portfolio.
Ah, yes, the sacred 60/40 split. Sixty percent in stocks, forty in bonds. Supposed to give you growth with a safety net. Well, in today’s market, that safety net has more holes than ever.
It’s time for a reset.
Wealth-building isn’t what it used to be. When both stocks and bonds are sagging - and when the Fed spent years flooding the economy with Monopoly money - there are no free lunches left.
Many upper-middle-class families thought they were cruising toward retirement on autopilot. Instead, they’ve been shoved back into the workforce, legs flailing, as everyday costs spike anywhere from 8% to 50%, depending on your zip code.
Now, some people are still parroting the old “crypto is on life support” line. That was maybe true two years ago. Today? Please. Forget survival. In 2025, crypto was on the offensive.
Bitcoin cracked the $100,000 barrier in November. Not on some fantasy of a future Fed pivot, but on the back of actual, real-deal monetary easing that started in late 2023.
We’re no longer guessing about the pivot. It happened. Now the conversation is about stability, and crypto has shown it can handle that just fine.
The idea that Bitcoin rises or falls based purely on Jerome Powell’s caffeine intake is dated. This market has grown up. With spot Bitcoin ETFs, regulated U.S. exchanges, and serious institutional muscle, crypto now has more than just a pulse. It has infrastructure, credibility, and momentum.
That said, the biggest threat to crypto remains the same as always: the people in it. The panic sellers. The hype chasers. The ones who buy the top and sell the bottom. The space could use fewer influencers and more investors.
Meanwhile, the harsh reality is sinking in across America: more families are scrambling to patch together some kind of retirement. And whether you’re 28 or 68, dismissing crypto might not be the smartest move.
According to the 2025 Modern Wealth Survey by Charles Schwab, 41% of Americans now consider crypto a good investment. And 65% of those already in the space say they’re planning to add more.
Here’s the bottom line. If you believe, as I do, that crypto has matured - from a speculative gamble to a legitimate, evolving asset class - then turning your back on it could be the biggest mistake of all.
Position sizing matters. Discipline matters. But the opportunity? Still very much alive.
