Gen Z is the least engaged generation at work yet the most entrepreneurial in history — a contradiction that makes sense only once you look at what shaped them: the internet, the climate crisis, Covid, and an economy where the old promise of work hard, buy a house, retire comfortably stopped holding. Those conditions produced a generation that redefines loyalty around its own life story rather than the employer's, treats consumption as identity, and chooses access over ownership because commitment is a limitation. For employers and brands, the usual playbooks miss them entirely. A behavioural science perspective on what shaped Gen Z, and what it takes to actually reach them at work and in the market.