In the chapter of the strategy this spring, a student bowed during a discussion of automation and mockery, “Well, we will not get a job anyway because of artificial intelligence, so who cares?” Laughter extends across the room. It was fast, light – comfortable. But under jokes put a tense reality. This feeling is the elephant in the room for many young people: they feel that the labor market is developing under the influence of artificial intelligence, and they are not sure of the place that will suit them.
When I asked many students if they were seriously talking about replacing artificial intelligence, one of them answered: “Not really. If you are thinking very much, this feels despair.” Another said, “We just know something else that will come. Or maybe we will discover how to work with him.” Humor has become a tool for adaptation – a way to recognize the threat without housing on it.
This feeling is based on data. A Goldman Sachs analysis It indicates that GEN Z technology workers suffer from high unemployment rates of older generations, with rates between 20 to 30 years increased by approximately 3 degrees Celsius since early 2024-more than four times the increase in the national average. Joseph Brigz, the top economists in Goldman Sachs, warns this “Those who perform the most automatic tasks – are often the most young employees – are the most at risk.” However, even between this scene, use approximately 42 % of the Gen Z’s Amnesty International workers to inform job decisions – the highest of any generation – and One in five says he says of artificial intelligence.
Gen Z is not the first generation formed by turmoil. The Millennium Millennium Act 2008, the Generalx Experienced abroad, Boomers Watch the industries Automation. But the rapid range of AI and reaching this moment. 2025 SHRM poll found that 80 % of employers expect job descriptions at novice level within three years due to artificial intelligence.
Some students are already hedging: attraction towards fields that seem more focused on human-mental health, skilled trading, and education-others dive into the skills of artificial intelligence, hoping to stay in the foreground. A few lateral construction: free work, lessons, and part -time creative work. One of the students captured the best: “If artificial intelligence really changes everything, we cannot control it. So I prefer to focus on what I can do now.” It is a mixture of pragmatism and the jewel that feels Gen. Z.
But the danger is that humor can hide negativity. Laughing may laugh at the threat at this moment, but it does not prepare a long -term willingness. This same laugh that laughs in Tiktoks about the embarrassment of the functional interview, the “Gen Z Stare” stories in the role of service, and “viral workplace” as fake lawyers from CC to protect the self of bad leaders-indicated that they make real concern.
Is this enough? According to the economists Tyler Queen George Mason University, not completely. He argues that the curricula focus on routine skills – which can deal with artificial intelligence A third of higher education to teach students how to use artificial intelligenceUnderstand its limits, cultivation of critical capabilities and extension capabilities that artificial intelligence cannot repeat.
The challenge is that teachers, employers, and policy makers depend on the humor of Gen Z and its ability to adapt and intelligence – do not be ashamed of it. Laughter is part of their cultural tool group, which is a way to defuse tension and build communication, but must be associated with clear preparation. Laughter by uncertainty is not harmful to its nature; In fact, it can indicate flexibility. However, if humor becomes the only response, it risk leaving deeper fears without treatment.
Helping this generation to see beyond the joke means showing how to translate quickly into strategic thinking. This may include the inclusion of literacy in each major, or encouraging students to deal with emerging tools as collaborators instead of threats, or designing guidance programs in the workplace that helps young employees to link problem solving in the short term with long -term job planning. This also means a bonus of adaptation not only when things get worse, but when it is used proactively to expect change.
Artificial intelligence will reshape the work in unexpected ways, as it touches the industries from creative arts to logistics services for health care. It may offer completely new professional categories, while making others outdated faster than any previous wave of automation. The real question is whether the Gen Z mixture of humor, the ability to adapt, and caution will help them ride that wave – or whether they will find themselves interact after it is too late, and ignited his pledge. At the present time, laughter continues. The work is to ensure that it is associated with skills and insight to turn uncertainty into an opportunity.
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