AI is on a collision course with young people.
“There is no question that it is a challenging time to be a new graduate entering the job market. We’ve seen some reductions in hiring, especially for entry-level roles, as companies reassess their headcount and look for more specialized skills,” Zeile told Fortune.
“But I wouldn’t hit the panic button quite yet.”
“Young people looking for technology or graphic design roles should be thinking about how they upskill, reskill, or pivot, but others in less impacted ones like elementary school teachers and civil engineers need to worry less,” she told Fortune.
Even Altman remains optimistic that AI won’t completely terrorize the future of work because, he says, it’ll also open up new opportunities.
“A lot of jobs will go away. A lot of jobs will just change dramatically, but we have always been really good at figuring out new things to do and status games or ways to be useful to each other,” Altman told his brother. “I’m not a believer that that ever runs out.”
The 40-year-old billionaire cited the podcast industry as a space that has grown exponentially in the last decade, and the jobs of the future will simply be ones that sound “sillier and sillier” from our current perspective.
“Professionals who master agentic AI, which is still in its nascent stages, may become invaluable to companies that want to automate significant chunks of their workflows,” he said.
“It’s okay to explore different roles in industries you may not have planned on – you will still learn and build skills in any role,” she encouraged Gen Z. “We are all going to need to be more comfortable with career switching and adopt a lifelong learning mindset.”
“Demonstrated experience is a valuable currency in a world where entry-level roles are scarcer and therefore more competitive,” she said.
“Building MVP tools and solutions with AI for a target industry or to solve a challenge in your community could be a creative way to demonstrate initiative, domain expertise, and durable skills like critical thinking.”
In a sense, the job search should be treated like a personal marketing campaign, Zeile suggested.
“Hiring managers are often looking for potential over experience, so it’s essential to articulate your passion and willingness to learn new skills during the interview process,” he added. “Continuous learning and upskilling, particularly in areas like AI, data analysis, or cloud technologies, can also help to set early-career professionals apart from their competition.”
