Overview

• The #Genzstare hashtag has amassed over 4,000 TikTok posts and drawn millions of views as users showcase blank, expressionless gazes in everyday interactions.
• Gen Z participants defend the stare as a deliberate pause for processing confusing questions or shielding against unnecessary emotional labor in customer service roles.
• Psychologists and generational experts attribute the phenomenon to pandemic-era isolation, asynchronous digital communication habits and first-job social anxieties.
• Companies report rising onboarding costs and are investing in targeted soft-skills training to help younger workers improve face-to-face communication.
• Experts note that older generations have consistently critiqued emerging social behaviors, with the stare seen as the latest example of intergenerational tension.