{"id":421483,"date":"2026-01-20T13:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/421483\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T13:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T13:30:07","slug":"how-ai-is-disrupting-career-paths-and-forcing-gen-z-and-everyone-else-to-adapt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/421483\/","title":{"rendered":"How AI is disrupting career paths and forcing Gen Z \u2013 and everyone else \u2013 to adapt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Workplace experts say artificial intelligence could change how young workers gain experience and move up in their careers. For example, employees proficient at AI could advance ahead of other colleagues and get hired for specific project-based work.GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Editing videos and creating a donor database for an arts organization isn\u2019t where one might assume Ilona Dougherty, co-creator and managing director of the Youth & Innovation Project at the University of Waterloo, started her career.<\/p>\n

But she says she gained valuable experience from that entry-level job that she still draws on some 20 years later. \u201cI had the best boss ever,\u201d Ms. Dougherty says. \u201cI learned how to be a really good boss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet cutting video and assembling lists of potential funders are tasks that artificial intelligence could easily automate today. That leaves Ms. Dougherty wondering whether members of Gen Z entering the working world now will have the kind of workplace experiences that helped her build a successful career.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of the hype around AI, we may be investing less in young employees, and I think that\u2019s going to have long-term consequences for our companies, for young employees, for pretty much everyone,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

AI has good and bad news for young workers<\/p>\n

Studies on AI\u2019s impact on employment often paint a bleak picture for people entering the work force. A November 2025 survey<\/a> by International Data Corp., for example, found 66 per cent of global enterprises plan to cut entry-level hiring thanks to AI.<\/p>\n

But Mark Dixon, chief executive officer of International Workplace Group (IWG), a global provider of flexible workspaces and hybrid work solutions, says AI also creates new ways for entry-level workers to demonstrate their worth.<\/p>\n

IWG released a report<\/a> in November 2025 that found 55 per cent of Gen Z employees in Canada are coaching older colleagues on AI, driving cross-generational collaboration. And 61 per cent of directors told IWG that AI innovations introduced by younger employees had unlocked new business opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s clearly going to be many opportunities that are going to come from AI,\u201d Mr. Dixon says. \u201cYou get massive efficiencies and a speed up of operations. That means that more people get employed because there\u2019s more creativity and less drudgery.\u201d<\/p>\n

People need to avoid false dichotomies when discussing AI\u2019s impact on work, says Hamoon Ekhtiari, CEO of FutureFit AI, which offers AI tools to help workers find jobs and navigate careers. He says career paths will become \u201cmessier,\u201d and that will present young workers with both new challenges and opportunities. <\/p>\n

For example, he says AI will continue to disrupt industries, making it less clear which skills and roles will be required over the course of a career. But at the same time, AI\u2019s ability to handle large amounts of routine work will make it easier and cheaper for individuals to chart their own professional paths.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it is entrepreneurship, whether it\u2019s micro business, whether it is freelancing, there are just far more available pathways than the binary model that existed in the past,\u201d Mr. Ekhtiari says.<\/p>\n

In fact, AI may make the term \u201cclimbing the career ladder\u201d increasingly outdated, says Sinead Bovell, founder of tech education company WAYE.<\/p>\n

Ms. Bovell says AI will accelerate a shift toward project-based work, in which companies hire for specific skills needed for individual assignments instead of long-term roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe very idea that you move up in terms of getting more seniority with experience is going to start making less sense,\u201d she says. \u201cCareer ladders are going to be much more flat.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says that in such an environment, a junior hire could leapfrog over a middle manager in importance to a project if they possess the most relevant skills. But Ms. Bovell adds that project-based work also brings greater uncertainty and less stability than traditional salaried jobs.<\/p>\n

How to adapt to AI in the workplace<\/p>\n

Ms. Dougherty\u2019s advice to young people navigating these changes is: \u201cDon\u2019t get too much education. Get experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says there is a growing risk to staying in school \u2013 and out of the work force \u2013 too long as employers increasingly prioritize hands-on experience over academic credentials. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this is from somebody who works in academia,\u201d she chuckles. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Dixon also emphasizes skills development outside formal education. \u201cIn years gone by, people who were ambitious went out and learned programming in the evening,\u201d he says. \u201cLearn additional skills that maybe your college or university is not teaching you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Ekhtiari says it\u2019s not just Gen Z who needs to adapt: To help workers navigate AI, governments need to move past what he calls the \u201ctrain and pray\u201d model.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, we spend money to get people trained and pray that they get jobs,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to shift to actually getting people into good jobs and measuring that progress systematically over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for industry, Ms. Bovell says companies must recognize that simply automating entry-level roles is not a strategy for success. \u201cThey need to see investing in young workers who are more AI savvy, who are more AI native, as an investment in the long-term sustainability of the firm,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Ms. Dougherty adds: \u201cLike with every technological change, we\u2019re eventually going to adapt and figure it out. But it\u2019s going to take a while to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Workplace experts say artificial intelligence could change how young workers gain experience and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1401,62,276,277,49,48,2922,43012,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-421483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-adveditorial","9":"tag-ai","10":"tag-artificial-intelligence","11":"tag-artificialintelligence","12":"tag-ca","13":"tag-canada","14":"tag-noastack","15":"tag-ordid3813001372te","16":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}