Workforce Management
Turning AI Anxiety Into Opportunity for Young Professionals
Young professionals are worried about AI limiting their work opportunities. Explore what this means for your workplace planning strategy.
June 05, 2025
Turning Your Anxious Observers into Confident Collaborators
As AI steps in to do more of the work traditionally assigned to junior staff, where does that leave the next generation of leaders?
In Australia, 38% of Gen Z workers are worried the tech will replace them.
So how will AI disrupt entry level roles? Where are the opportunities for young professionals to add value? And what does this mean for your workforce planning strategies?
Shifting Structures Behind AI Anxiety
While we have yet to discover the true impact of AI, one thing is certain: AI is here to stay. Globally, most organisations expect AI to transform their business by 2030. And the tech is already reshaping the composition of what it takes to succeed—and how organisations are thinking about their resourcing.
“Take professional services for instance. As AI replaces tasks more junior staff used to do, the traditional ‘Christmas tree’ resourcing model is likely to become more like a cylinder,” observes Adam Meadows, Organisational Strategy Leader at Korn Ferry. “This leaner model could create more competition among junior staff for roles but also open up opportunities for rapid development.”
In the legal sector, AI can sift through countless pages of legal documents and case summaries, take care of due diligence, and review and draft documents—tasks traditionally assigned to more junior staff.
In HR, the technology is helping to automate hiring and create better candidate experiences, taking care of time consuming, administrative tasks that younger professionals used to do.
However, within this disruption lies tremendous opportunity for the digital native generation.
Don’t Compete With the Tech: Collaborate
Meadows' advice for professionals entering the workforce is to embrace the technology.
“Don't try to compete with AI. Look at the whole value chain of what you do, and your organisation delivers, then look for the gaps AI can’t fill, the problems it can’t solve. Make that your value proposition.”
To stand out, this next generation will need the skills and capabilities expected to become critical in an AI-augmented workforce. They’ll need the ability to navigate ambiguity and embrace lifelong learning, including traits like critical and creative thinking and curiosity.
When you give early-career professionals the skills to work better alongside AI, they will uncover where they can add more value—and create more opportunities for your organisation.
Companies deploying AI quickly are increasing their productivity five times faster than others. That’s why 77% of organisations the World Economic Forum surveyed plan to reskill and upskill existing workforces to work better alongside AI.
Learning in a Hybrid World
While we know future leaders need emotional intelligence and critical thinking, how will they acquire these capabilities when the opportunities to learn are diminishing?
Hybrid working limits casual learning and mentoring moments. Young professionals once learned the foundations through routine tasks, but now AI agents are deployed in their place. The natural progression from simple to complex work is increasingly compressed.
“You've got multiple generations who are perpetually disrupted. They love the online world, and love working hybrid. But we’re losing vital skills in this online way of working, including emotional intelligence and the ability to create connections,” Meadows says.
“In-person workshops and working side-by-side with leaders create the right opportunity to problem solve and think outside the box and test things. You can't do that in a purely online learning world.” This will be critically important if workplace structures change as a result of introducing AI.
Reverse Mentoring in Real Time
Learning and development (L&D) isn’t just a perk. It’s the leading reason employees stay with a company. 67% say they would stick around if they had advancement and upskilling opportunities, according to our 2025 Talent Acquisition Report.
With five generations now working together, the next wave of development programs need a multigenerational workforce lens.
Meadows suggests implementing reverse mentoring as part of your coaching programs. Young professionals can guide leaders through AI use cases and digital opportunities, while absorbing strategic thinking and emotional intelligence in return.
Rethinking the Workforce
Nearly half of employers globally are planning to re-orient their business models to take advantage of opportunities AI has created. Two-thirds expect to hire talent with AI skills to make it happen.
And leading organisations are not thinking about cutting numbers—they’re focusing on strategic redeployment.
“We’re helping leaders map what roles are likely to be automated or could be delivered through AI,” Meadows says.
“New structures might spread the headcount across other parts of the business, training people to get them off the mundane and into different, more-value-add roles. You need to understand the benefits of these decisions.”
Handled poorly, this can diminish trust and waste human potential. But done well, this avoids costly redundancies and moves your people towards more meaningful work.
Turn AI Anxiety into Advantage
AI anxiety is real. But as digital natives, the next generation of leaders have a distinct advantage: they’re used to constant change. They’ve grown up adapting quickly, and now they have an opportunity to use this to their advantage.
The organisations that thrive will be those helping their next leaders evolve from anxious observers to confident collaborators. And shaping a culture that endorses and embraces AI as part of the fabric of the workforce will be critical.
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