Written by William Hirst • Published on 4th September 2024

In pharma, as in all industries, our success is measured on how we adapt to change. There is a big change coming at pharma—a change that is inevitable, seismic, close and very easy to see—but we’re doing almost nothing to address it. 

Its name? Generation-Z.

Young people!

Anyone who has recently shared the company of those under 25 will have noticed the difference between this cohort of ‘digital natives’ and previous generations. The quirks of Gen-Z will have a significant impact on much of our future operations, not least because its members will soon make up the majority of our workforce and markets. At Pharmageddon USA we confronted the consequences of this directly. 

The impact of Gen-Z can broadly be split into the bad, the good and the better. 

The bad:

Gen-Z isn’t committing to the long-term education and schooling necessary to

treat patients effectively. There will be a 130,000-doctor shortage by 2030 in the

US, and a shortfall of over 200,000 nurses, and the current healthcare ecosystem will have to adapt. However, it’s also possible that these shortages won’t matter so much in the coming years. Fewer than 30% of Gen-Z have a primary care physician, making Google and discussion groups like Reddit the first port of call for health concerns. Your kneejerk reaction is because you’re likely from an older generation. Actually, this could be a positive thing, and could open us up to broader opportunities for information dissemination, but of course we must also ensure it doesn’t result in challenges to authenticity, putting patients and HCPs at risk of misinformation.

The good:

Gen-Z could force us to overturn outdated operational structures. It is a generation that is suited to hybrid working and highly efficient in their online actions, eschewing things like websites and emails while being incredibly adept at building partnerships in different online environments. We’ve been trying to get better at collaborative working in pharma for years. It’s possible that Gen-Z could bring the mindset shift we need to get over these barriers.

The better:

Going beyond communication, Gen-Z could be the key to a broader shift in technological partnerships. The minimum bar of technological ability will increase with this generation, meaning less training is required to update processes that are ripe for digitisation. Moreover, Gen-Z is the most health-conscious generation in history—if we can capitalise on this interest, we open our doors to fresh innovation.

An inevitable change

So how do we capitalise on it? We should be doing the same thing we do in anticipation of any other significant change: open ourselves up to our new customer base, get to know how they behave, and think broadly about the opportunities we have for the future. It’s an ambitious journey, and one that starts at Pharmageddon. Register and find out more here.

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