Newsroom
Fears about artificial intelligence reshaping the job market are growing, especially among younger workers, as new figures and industry warnings suggest major changes could happen sooner than many expected.
One of the starkest predictions came from Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of AI at Microsoft, who said most office jobs done on computers, including roles like lawyers, accountants, project managers and marketing staff, could be fully automated within the next 12 to 18 months.
Recent data from the United Kingdom appears to reflect rising pressure in the workforce. Employment in innovation-focused businesses has dropped by more than 14%. Among workers under 25, the decline is close to 20%. For people aged 16 to 24, unemployment reached 16.1% at the end of 2025, the highest level recorded in at least a decade.
Despite the concern, experts say young people are not powerless, but they may need to rethink what makes them valuable at work. They argue that job titles matter less than skills, especially as AI tools become more common and their weaknesses more visible.
Award-winning storyteller and trainer Grant Feller says younger workers should focus on abilities AI struggles to match. He calls this group “the 35% of the workforce," people who build careers around deeply human strengths.
Those include emotional intelligence, critical thinking, complex storytelling, spontaneous creativity, personal connection and strong leadership, areas where machines still fall short.
“Invest in the human skills you have, because they’re more valuable than ever,” he said. “Artificial intelligence is a tool. But it still needs people to make it work properly.”
