The Perennials: The Megatrends Creating a Postgenerational Society

A look at the transformation we will all experience as six generations work side-by-side by the author of the future-forecasting 2030

In today’s world, more generations than before are living and working alongside one another. The convergence of increasing longevity and the explosion in technology will transform the workplace as we now know it. These people, from six generations, are now known as "perennials," a term that refuses to categorize people in terms of the decade in which they were born, freeing them from a sequential model of life and work that is no longer valid or useful.

Mauro Guillen, the author of 2030, has an extraordinary ability to spot trends, synthesize global movements, and forecast what they mean for all of us. In The Perennials, Guillen unveils how this generational revolution will impact young people just entering the workforce as well as those who are living and working longer. Frictions are already proliferating between younger, tax-paying generations and those in retirement enjoying healthcare and pension benefits. International transfers of wealth, except among the very wealthiest families, is exacerbating already growing social inequality.

In his thought-provoking new book, Guillen identifies the specific cultural changes that need to be made so that multiple generations can work together, share generationally-specific stores of knowledge and live fulfilling lives. As Guillen sees it, the endgame of this successful revolution will be all to the benefit of society and the economy.

About the Author

Mauro F. Guillén is one of the most original thinkers at the Wharton School, where he is Professor of Management and Vice Dean for the MBA for Executives Program. An expert on global market trends, he is a sought-after speaker and consultant. He combines his training as a sociologist at Yale and as a business economist in his native Spain to methodically identify and quantify the most promising opportunities at the intersection of demographic, economic, and technological developments. His online classes on Coursera and other platforms have attracted over 100,000 participants from around the world. He has won multiple teaching awards at Wharton, where his presentation on global market trends has become a permanent feature of over fifty executive education programs annually. He is the WSJ bestselling author of 2030: How Today's Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything.