- Gen Z anxiety: Surveys find ~22% of Gen Z workers are “very concerned” about losing their jobs to AI in the next two years [1], roughly double the share of older generations.
- Entry-level jobs shrinking: Randstad reports entry-level job postings have plunged ~29% since January 2024 [2]. Big Tech firms cut new-graduate hires by about 25% in 2024 [3], and one industry analysis found developers aged 22–25 saw a ~20% drop in jobs by mid-2025 [4] [5].
- AI’s double edge: Studies show AI now handles 50–60% of routine junior tasks (like report drafting or data cleaning) [6]. Anthropic’s CEO warns AI “could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs” [7], yet some forecasts predict net job creation – e.g. one analysis projects 170 million new AI-related jobs vs 92 million displaced by 2030 [8].
- Gen Z response: About 75% of Gen Z say they’re using AI tools to upskill [9]. Many are “pivoting” toward so-called AI‑resistant careers: Glassdoor found 65% of Gen Z think a college degree won’t shield them, 53% are eyeing trades, and 47% are interested in healthcare or education [10]. One young worker put it bluntly: “I want a job a robot can’t take from me” [11].
- Expert advice: Business leaders urge rethinking entry-level roles and heavy reskilling. HBR authors say jobs should be redesigned for learning (not just repetitive tasks) [12]. BCG analysts note 77% of workers expect AI to be important but only 33% actually understand it [13]. Sylvain Duranton (BCG X) warns “companies cannot simply roll out gen AI tools and expect transformation” – real gains come when firms upskill people, redesign workflows and align leadership around AI strategy [14].
A Tough Start for Gen Z in 2025
Generation Z (born 1997–2012) is now entering the workforce amid unprecedented change. After a global pandemic and economic swings, Gen Zers face fewer entry-level openings than previous cohorts. Research by Randstad (a major recruiter) shows “global entry-level job postings have fallen by 29 percentage points since January 2024” [15]. In practical terms, companies are hiring far fewer fresh graduates. A report by VC firm SignalFire found leading tech companies cut their hiring of recent grads by roughly 25% in 2024 [16]. Similarly, StackOverflow’s 2025 developer survey notes that “entry-level tech hiring decreased 25% year-over-year in 2024” [17]. Even in skilled fields like software development, one Stanford study cited in that survey found employment for 22–25-year-old developers has plunged ~20% since late 2022 [18].
All this means Gen Z job-seekers often compete in a hyper-competitive market. Global analyses find young workers accepting roles unrelated to their ambitions or changing jobs rapidly. Randstad’s data show Gen Z’s average tenure in early-career roles is just about 1.1 years – far shorter than Millennials (1.8 years) or Gen X (2.8 years) at a comparable career stage [19]. In other words, young employees are “growth-hunting” amid unstable conditions [20]. Moreover, many feel unprepared: nearly half of Gen Z say their current job doesn’t match their long-term goals [21], and about 40% worry their education or background (e.g. demographics) limits their opportunities [22].
Adding to the stress, Gen Zers are more worried about AI and automation than older workers. A recent Deutsche Bank survey (reported by Fortune) found roughly one in five Gen Z respondents is “very concerned” that AI will take their job within two years [23] – compared to only ~10% of workers over 55. Similarly, a BCG study cited in Wired reports 41% of employees (especially younger ones) think their jobs could vanish in the next decade [24]. In sum, Gen Z enters 2025 facing a “profoundly competitive” job market, squeezed on all sides by economic pressures and new technology [25].
AI’s Double-Edged Impact on Jobs
AI’s rapid advance is at the heart of these trends. Unlike previous tech, modern generative AI can perform cognitive tasks – drafting text, analyzing data, even writing code – that were once the province of well-paid humans. One industry study notes that today 50–60% of routine junior tasks (like report-writing, data entry, basic analysis) can be handled by AI [26]. In practice, tools like ChatGPT (by OpenAI), Google Bard, Anthropic’s Claude, and others can now do much of the “grunt work” that junior employees used to do for training and experience. For example, Marina Temkin at TechCrunch reports startup Rogo’s AI can “do almost all the work I did” as a financial analyst [27]. Major banks have even discussed slashing first-year analyst hiring by up to two-thirds, since generative AI can now handle tasks like coding, research and due diligence more efficiently [28] [29].
The scale of this shift alarms experts. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has repeatedly warned of an AI “job apocalypse.” In an Axios interview, Amodei said AI “could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs” in the next few years [30]. He and other industry leaders (like former political adviser Steve Bannon) foresee AI displacing vast numbers of under-30 office jobs “so important in your 20s” [31]. In his view, business leaders will realize the cost savings of automation and rapidly halt new hiring – a scenario he calls a “white-collar bloodbath” [32] [33]. Amodei puts a 25% probability on things going “really, really badly” with AI [34], echoing warnings from Sam Altman (OpenAI) who nonetheless urges optimism about long-term gains. As Amodei starkly summarized, one possible future is: “Cancer is cured, the economy grows at 10% a year, the budget is balanced – and 20% of people don’t have jobs” [35].
In short, AI poses a double-edged question: How many jobs will it destroy, and can it create enough new ones? Some research suggests the answer isn’t entirely negative. A World Economic Forum analysis (citing a global study) estimates AI will create about 170 million jobs worldwide by 2030 while displacing 92 million [36]. That’s a net gain, but it means entirely new roles (often requiring different skills) in tech centers, and broad retraining needs. In any case, there’s broad agreement that “many entry-level roles are at risk of disappearing” [37] unless businesses rethink how they develop new talent.
Company Experiments – Successes and Backfires
Businesses themselves are grappling with this test-and-learn moment. Some CEOs have taken the plunge by aggressively automating. Wired recently chronicled a Swedish fintech firm whose CEO triumphantly said “AI can already do all of the jobs that we as humans do” – halting all new hires and even having an AI “CEO” deliver company updates on YouTube. But within months the experiment backfired. By mid-2025 the company admitted AI-created responses led to customer frustration and a drop in quality, and rehired many of the 700 human support staff they had replaced [38]. As the CEO reluctantly concluded, “investing in the quality of the human support is the way of the future for us” [39].
Other data points sound similar alarms. A Salesforce/Boston Consulting Group study (BCG’s AI at Work) found that while 77% of employees expect AI to be important in the next 3–5 years, only 33% have a clear understanding of how to use it [40]. Developers in the study who did use AI tools (like coding assistants) actually worked 19% slower on average – even though they thought they were faster [41]. In short, rushing AI deployment without training can backfire, creating “broken workflows” and inefficiency [42].
Experts argue that the correct response is massive retraining and redesign rather than simple cuts. BCG’s Sylvain Duranton (global leader of BCG X) emphasizes that companies “cannot simply roll out gen AI tools and expect transformation.” Instead, he says, “real returns come when businesses invest in upskilling their people, redesign how work gets done, and align leadership around AI strategy” [43]. In practice, this means pairing humans and AI: dividing tasks so that machines do the mundane work while juniors focus on learning and critical judgment. As HBR coaches Edmondson and Chamorro-Premuzic advise, “stop assigning juniors the work AI can do” and make entry-level tasks about learning, not just repetition [44]. BCG’s Vinciane Beauchene puts it simply: “Companies that reshape their workflows and invest in people are seeing superior results” compared to those that just cut costs [45].
Gen Z’s Adaptive Strategies
Meanwhile, many young workers are quietly adjusting their own plans. Rather than despair, a lot of Gen Z is pivoting. FastCompany reports that instead of public outrage, Gen Z’s response has been “surprisingly quiet and practical” – choosing stable paths over panicking. One high school graduate told the author: “I want a job a robot can’t take from me. I’m leaning toward trades – construction especially” [46]. In fact, a recent poll found 65% of Gen Z think a college degree alone won’t protect them from AI and 53% are seriously considering skilled trades, while 47% are eyeing people-centric fields like healthcare or education [47]. Vocational training and hands-on careers (electricians, plumbers, etc.) are suddenly much more popular among those who see office jobs as vulnerable.
Gen Z is also embracing side gigs and continuous learning. According to the same report, 57% of Gen Z already have a “side hustle” (versus 48% of Millennials) [48]. These aren’t always flashy startups – often they’re quietly reselling items online or doing small crafts, just to diversify income streams. On the training front, Randstad’s data show 75% of Gen Z use AI tools to upskill [49], far more than other generations. Companies like Coursera and Udemy have seen surging interest from young people learning AI, coding, and data skills. In short, many Gen Zers are taking responsibility by learning to use AI rather than fearing it. As one industry analyst put it, “AI won’t take your job if you’re the one who’s best at using it” [50].
This pragmatic attitude echoes history. Tech leaders note that every new technology breaks old jobs and creates new ones. OpenAI’s Sam Altman often cites the lamplighter analogy: a lamplighter from the 19th century would be awestruck by modern prosperity, even though their own job vanished with electric lights [51]. Similarly, the challenge for Gen Z is to develop the skills that machines can’t easily replicate: creativity, empathy, cross-disciplinary judgment, and the ability to work alongside AI.
The Outlook: Rethinking Careers and Education
What does all this mean for Gen Z in practice? In the short term, many employers may indeed redirect entry-level budgets into technology. A recent McKinsey survey finds 40% of companies plan to cut jobs where AI can do the work [52]. One CEO’s gamble already went awry, another’s looming predictions raise alarms, and policymakers are starting to take note: some top economists (and even political figures) warn that the plight of young job-seekers will be a major issue in coming elections.
But alongside the gloom there are opportunities. AI itself is creating new roles in data annotation, AI ethics, “AI auditing,” and prompt engineering – jobs that require human oversight of these tools. Companies that invest in apprenticeship-style programs can harness entry-level enthusiasm for AI while building human expertise. (HBR advocates formal rotations where newcomers learn by alternating between AI-assisted projects and mentor-led tasks [53] [54], though we have not cited this deeply.) Governments and educators are also pushing vocational training in AI-related skills for younger cohorts.
In a broader sense, this shift could accelerate a long-needed revaluation of work and education. If half of “old-school” roles vanish, society must create viable pathways for Gen Z to train and advance. Thought leaders like Jeff LeBlanc (FastCompany) suggest we’re seeing “a generational pattern” of adaptability: like Millennials pivoting after the 2008 crash, Gen Z is quietly forging new routes – by learning new skills, building gig portfolios, or entering industries that still demand human touch [55] [56].
Bottom line: Gen Z is entering one of the most disruptive job markets ever. On the one hand, surveys and experts are clear: AI poses a real risk to many entry-level positions. On the other hand, companies and workers that adapt intelligently – redesigning jobs, focusing on uniquely human skills, and aggressively upskilling – can seize the upside of AI. As one CEO put it after undoing his AI-only policy, the future lies in combining human support with technology, not choosing one over the other [57]. In 2025 and beyond, Gen Z’s challenge will be to work with AI, not against it – a task that will require bold changes in hiring, training, and career planning for this digital-native generation.
Sources: Recent analyses and expert interviews from Harvard Business Review, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Wired/BCG, Axios, World Economic Forum, and others [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63]. These include surveys of Gen Z attitudes, industry hiring data, and warnings from AI leaders, cited above.
References
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