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By Melissa Fleur Afshar
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A TikTok video claiming that the so-called “zillennial” generation narrowly evaded the economic and cultural upheaval facing millennials and Gen Z, has captured the attention of tens of thousands of viewers on the platform.
In the video, posted October 30 by New York-based entrepreneur Jack Boudreau, the 30-year-old describes those born in the late 1990s to early 2000s as a microgeneration that “somehow managed to dodge every major bullet in the last 20 years.” The post has since been liked more than 58,000 times, prompting widespread discussion about how the demographic cohort have had it easier than their peers in several ways.
Millennials, Boudreau told viewers, “graduated into the financial crisis.”
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Gen Z, he added, graduated into a world defined by pandemic lockdowns.
“Millennials spent the last 10 to 15 years specializing in a role that could be disrupted if not completely replaced by AI,” he continued in the clip. “Gen Z grew up with screens, algorithms, push notifications and the harmful effects of capitalism.”
By comparison, Boudreau said, zillennials—those now in their late 20s or early 30s—entered college during what he called a “golden era.”
“There were still house parties, we had technology but it was for fun,” he said. “But we had enough privacy where we didn't have to worry about making one mistake and having it end up being on 4K...We're the lucky ones, and I think we know it, but we just don't really want to admit it."
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Thousands of viewers on TikTok echoed the sentiment in the comments, pointing to their own experiences of straddling two generations without fully identifying with either. The concept of a “zillennial” is not new, but Boudreau’s framing helped crystalize a set of shared cultural memories—from the transition to smartphones to a job market that had not yet been upended by AI or remote-first work.
Boudreau, who is known as @jack_boudreau_ on the platform, told Newsweek that the post was inspired by the emotional complexity of turning 30 in a world still adjusting to economic and social change.
“It was inspired by that universal mix of freedom and pressure most of us feel in our late 20s and early 30s, realizing that life is both wide open and closing in at the same time,” he said. “I think it hit home because it’s honest, relatable, and captures that weird in-between stage so many of us are living through.”
Boudreau, who leads a startup aimed at connecting young professionals and families with financial advisers, has found a larger audience with his blend of entrepreneurial content and candid reflections. But his video about zillennials—part observational humor, part sociological snapshot—cut deeper.
"Zillenial is a very privileged generation," one viewer said. Their comment has been liked more than 9,000 times.
"This! I have been saying this," another added.
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