Gen Z faces 'job-pocalypse' as firms prioritise AI over new hires, report says (www.theguardian.com)

A British Standards Institution study of more than 850 global business leaders across seven countries warns that Gen Z faces a “job‑pocalypse” as companies prioritise AI and automation over hiring and training. Key findings: 41% of leaders say AI has enabled headcount cuts, 31% look at AI solutions before considering new hires (with two‑fifths expecting this to become the norm within five years), and 39% report entry‑level roles have already been reduced or removed. A quarter of respondents believe most or all entry‑level tasks could be done by AI, with the most common applications cited being research, administrative and briefing work. Despite this, 53% think AI’s benefits will outweigh workforce disruption and 76% expect tangible gains within 12 months. For the AI/ML community the report flags a pivotal shift: organisations are deploying models and automation to close skills gaps and boost productivity, not to upskill junior staff—BSI found “automation” appears almost seven times more often than “upskilling” or “retraining” in company reports. That implies accelerating demand for robust, scalable tooling (knowledge extraction, RPA, summarisation, retrieval-augmented generation) while shrinking entry-level pipelines and amplifying the need for policy, education and industry-led reskilling. The takeaway: technical progress is rapid, but sustainable adoption will require intentional workforce investment to avoid widening social and economic divides.