Are You Scaring or Scaling Your Talent?

Scale Sustainably with a blend of employees, fractionals, freelancers, and AI agents.

Boost Boundaries to avoid burnout and support balance to build and grow.

42% of the C-Suite say the process of adopting Gen AI is tearing their company apart.

Who/what makes up your workforce now? What about in three years? Are you inclined to (over) emphasize AI to grow your business fast?

Yes, there’s extraordinary potential for AI agents and bots to boost your blended human workforce combo of employees and non-employees (contractors, freelancers etc.).

Meanwhile, some managers may find Gen Zers too entitled or demanding or lazy or ______ (add your own adjective/issue). Non-human agents/bots may feel easier to deal with.

However, let’s pause and project.

• Do your Gen Zers have the AI skills your business needs now/ahead?
• How long will they stay at your company?
• Who is being developed to replace rising/departing Gen Zers?
• How are you developing future leaders?

AI is reducing hiring, especially young employees, causing issues:

• 86% of executives plan to replace entry-level roles with AI, nearly 1 in 6 have done so.
• 1 in 12 executives has stopped entry-level hiring due to AI’s advances. [​Clarify Capital​]
• 41% of Millennial and Gen Z employees admit they’re sabotaging their company’s AI strategy, for example by refusing to use AI tools or outputs.
• 66% of C-Suite say the process of adopting AI applications has created tension or division within their organization. [​Writer AI Survey 2025​]

This is NOT new. Remember the “Luddites”? They were English skilled craftsmen in the early 1800s who also had fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) and smashed new weaving machines. They were NOT against progress or industrialization. They were protesting what they believed to be “​a deceitful method of circumventing the labour practices​.”

Issues to uncover:

• How do your Gen Z workers feel as managers urge them to disrupt their own jobs (engaged and or concerned)?
• How much has hiring new graduates declined from last year?
• Are younger employees embracing or undermining AI integration?
• Will current Gen Zers feel safe and stay if new hires are being replaced by AI?

Actions to take:

• Build a blended workforce—employees + non-employees, human + non-human.
• Balance tech and talent—play the long-game to scale strategically and sustainably by hiring and upskilling young talent.
• Boost transparency—share more data to decrease angst about AI integration, while uncertainties are unavoidable.
• Bolster AI skills—show you are investing in employees’ growth and future at your company.
• Build confidence—help (especially younger) workers see where/how they add and can build value.

Modern work is tech-driven and talent-focused.

“My Millennial employees are SO rigid about their boundaries!” a Gen X senior executive complained to me.

“Our Gen Z employees have NO boundaries. They overshare all the time!” a Millennial client recently moaned.

People have different perspectives, experiences, and responses to evolving operational needs and work practices. Managers need to set boundaries to promote sustainable, healthy habits. Some boundaries may not be or not need to be rigid, depending on the person or situation. However, setting and respecting limits is essential.

Millennials may have young families, so defining work/life boundaries becomes logistically important. For Gen Zers who often have blurred boundaries, many having started work at home during COVID, defining parameters is crucial to avoid burnout and oversharing.

Issues to uncover: Are boundaries seen as a benefit or obstacle by leaders, managers, and employees? Which boundaries are respected and not? Where do boundaries need defining or enforcing and by whom?

Actions to take:

• Discuss boundaries – why they matter, what they mean to whom and what limits they determine – personal and professional, work and life, individual and team.
• Define boundaries – such as team agreements to identify norms and issues, and compromise across the team to agree habits and constraints.
• Set and sustain boundaries – often younger employees need help to maintain clearly established limits.

🤔 Cultivate ​curiosity without judgment​ – a great clip from Ted Lasso (a fav of mine).

🫨 Pay attention to ​Something alarming is happening to the job market​ – in The Atlantic.

💭 Useful insights about ​What does it mean to think like a CEO​ – LinkedIn post.

🎶 Good listening to ​Work Song​ by Hozier (saw them in concert last June – fantastic!).