Inc. Magazine
Gen-Z faces growing challenges entering the workforce as AI disrupts entry-level jobs and workplace norms. AI threatens roles from coding to influencer careers, pushing young workers to upskill fast. Companies may prefer AI tools over new hires, while education and management need to adapt to support Gen-Z’s growth.
AI Is Hurting Gen-Z Jobs. Here’s What Your Company Can Do About It
Author: Kit Eaton
Gen-Z, according to a spate of recent reports, is having a difficult time joining the workforce. The newly adult age cohort faces criticism of its new, unusual ideas of workplace norms and there are challenges caused by overly rigid leadership, endless layoff rounds, and a political climate where DEI—a set of principles Gen-Z broadly supports—is under attack. Now this young generation of workers has something extra to worry about: AI.
This disruptive, innovative new technology is impacting Gen-Z workers in a few ways, and may be harming their future job prospects. The trend has bigger implications, since it could dramatically reshape the future of pretty much any company seeking bright, new talent fresh out of college.
In a recent New York Times op-ed, LinkedIn’s chief economic opportunity officer, Aneesh Raman warned that AI directly threatens some entry-level jobs. This resonates with other reports showing how capable AI systems are becoming at performing many workplace tasks done by humans, with the loss of coding jobs as a leading example that other industry sectors are starting to follow.
Other experts increasingly suggest that entry-level workers need to upskill or reskill as AI takes on some mundane office tasks. The downside of this high-tech powered efficiency, Raman pointed out, is that these kinds of entry-level jobs have long served as stepping stones for brand new workers just starting their careers. These jobs are crucial opportunities for helping young workers find their feet in the workplace. Raman compared the disruption of AI in workplace norms with the dramatic upheavals caused by the decline of manufacturing work in the 1980s, Fortune said. He also noted that college graduates are looking at a job market where unemployment rates among their cohort are rising faster than for other workers.
The issue with AI’s ability to disrupt workplace norms is that it’s not affecting just coding jobs. Agent-based AI systems are being released regularly at large and small companies, each seemingly more capable than earlier tools, and they’re also being deployed more widely, such as in the legal and retail sectors. Wall Street firms are reportedly planning to dramatically cut entry-level hiring, Fortune pointed out, as even the financial sector is disrupted by AI.
Influencers also under threat
Meanwhile, another report shows how the work of influencers—a career path often taken by younger, digitally savvy workers—is under threat from AI perhaps more than many other kinds of jobs. A Yahoo Finance report suggests that generative AI tools are getting more capable at such a high rate that they could “wipe out as many as 80 percent of paid influencers in just a few months.”
This career, where successful influencers could earn tens of thousands of dollars for what seem like simple social media posts, are at risk from AI-generated images and videos that are all but indistinguishable from human-made content. Yahoo quotes Sabri Suby, founder of digital marketing agency King Kong, who said that AI was “changing the game” and estimated that, when it comes to the general public, AI penetration in social media is already so pronounced that “30 to 40 per cent of the short-form form content that people are consuming now, they’re not even aware that it is AI-generated.”
Raman did point out that some businesses will, of course, keep looking for entry-level employees, not least because leaders are still keen on the fresh ideas and perspectives that younger workers can bring. AI also frees up junior staff to start developing their deeper workplace skills more quickly—but to enable this transformation, colleges will have to step up AI education, and managers will have get used to giving junior staff some higher level tasks, Raman said.
While some of Raman’s suggestions make sense, some will run up against the harsh realities of the typical workplace. Some managers won’t see the benefit of empowering young workers to take on bigger tasks—perhaps fearing hierarchical upsets or job demarcation issues. Other companies won’t been excited by the need to reskill or upskill brand-new hires, conscious of the fact they could leave and take their new skills to a new employer. And plain economics will mean many companies will seek the economic benefit of using free or inexpensive AI tools instead of hiring fresh-out-of-college students.
All of this is something to think about when you’re either deploying new AI tools across your workforce, or looking to hire young, vibrant Gen Z workers. But bear in mind one cautionary tale: a recent New York Magazine article asserted that pretty much every college graduate was already using AI to “cheat” their way through their education. So if you’re recruiting young talent for its ability to think critically, you may have to double check that you’re hiring someone who’s really capable of it.
Credits: TCA, LLC.