What 50% Job Losses Mean for the Next Generation
Reports predicting large-scale entry-level job disruption are no longer theoretical. The next generation is entering a labor market where AI changes what “starting a career” even means.
50% of entry-level jobs. Gone.
In the time my son has left before he graduates high school.
That's what Dario Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic, said in Davos.
And it means every second child in his class may be working toward a job that no longer exists.
I talk about what this really means, for our kids, for how we guide them, and where to put our energy right now, in the full episode of The Time Is Now podcast with Amel Derragui.
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What this means for how we guide the next generation
The instinct of every parent and senior leader I talk to about AI is to give the next generation the same advice we received: pick a good profession, work hard, the rest will follow. That advice was true for the world we grew up in. It is no longer reliably true for our kids.
→ The careers that get protected from AI are the ones that combine judgement, creativity, relationships, and the kind of human presence that cannot be automated.
→ The careers that get absorbed first are the ones whose core value is information processing, pattern matching, or routine analysis.
→ The skills we need to teach our children are not specific to any one profession. They are about HOW to think, how to ask, how to learn, and how to stay human in conversations that machines can hold competently.
This is also a conversation worth having with senior leaders inside organisations who have children of their own. The career questions they face for themselves in the AI era mirror the questions their teenagers face graduating into the workforce. Many of them are quietly anxious about both and are not yet talking about either openly.
If you want a gentle way to start this conversation at home, my free A Child's First Book on Executive Coaching is a playful, simple introduction to what coaching is and how asking better questions helps kids and parents navigate emotions, challenges and change. Drop your email here to download a copy: https://www.thechangerepublic.com/free-resources
If you are rethinking your career or your family's path in the AI age, my career coaching helps senior leaders make these decisions with intention. Learn more here.
https://www.thechangerepublic.com/careercoaching