Gen Z is laughing in the face of the AI jobs apocalypse. I see it in my classroom every day

"In my strategy class this spring, a student leaned back during a discussion about automation and quipped, "Well, we aren't going to get a job anyway because of AI, so who cares?" Laughter rippled across the room. It was quick, light-even comforting. But beneath the jokes lay a tense reality. This feeling is the elephant in the room for many young people: they sense the job market evolving under AI's influence, and they're not sure where they'll fit."

"When I asked several students if they ever talk seriously about AI replacing jobs, one replied, "Not really. If you think about it too much, it feels hopeless." Another said, "We just figure something else will come along. Or maybe we'll figure out how to work with it." Humor has become a coping tool-a way to acknowledge the threat without dwelling on it."

"This sentiment is grounded in data. A Goldman Sachs analysis shows that Gen Z tech workers are experiencing higher unemployment than older generations, with rates among 20-to-30-year-olds up nearly 3 percentage points since early 2024-over four times the national average increase. Joseph Briggs, a senior economist at Goldman Sachs, warns that "those performing the most easily automated tasks-often the most junior employees-are naturally the most vulnerable." Yet even among this landscape, roughly 42% of Gen Z workers have used AI to inform career decisions-the highest of any generation-and one in five say AI suggested a career path they hadn't considered before."

Students often use humor to cope with anxiety about AI-driven job displacement, masking deeper uncertainty about future roles. Gen Z tech workers are experiencing rising unemployment, with 20-to-30-year-olds seeing increases nearly 3 percentage points since early 2024, disproportionately affecting junior employees with easily automated tasks. Around 42% of Gen Z workers have used AI to inform career decisions, and one in five received career suggestions from AI. Employers expect substantial changes to entry-level job descriptions within three years, and many young people are tilting toward human-centric fields or strategies that hedge against automation.

Read at Fortune