Opinion: Preparing the next generation for the brave new world of business

Gabriel Cassady

Growing up in the ‘90s, career advice seemed straightforward. There were classics like doctor, lawyer or teacher, and advice to “do something computer-related” was as good as gold. On the other hand, you would’ve been hard-pressed to find any parent who was excited to pay for an expensive degree in philosophy. And the department I came from, i.e. communication, was stigmatized as a blow-off degree.

But there’s a plot twist here.

According to recent data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, computer engineering grads face an unemployment rate of 7.8% – nearly double that of recent comms majors, who clock in at just 3.9%. Computer science graduates report a 7% unemployment rate – equal to that of performing arts grads – while philosophy majors sit at 5.1%.

Read that again. Recent computer engineering majors are almost twice as likely to be unemployed compared to those hippies in the communication department. We seem to be living in a bizarre future where the safe bet careers aren’t looking quite as safe as they once appeared to be.

As a tech adviser with artificial intelligence expertise, I get asked about careers – a lot – which is understandable. The last 20 years have borne witness to stunning advances in AI. Machines now wield powerful new capabilities, allowing them to output novel content that is increasingly indistinguishable from the stuff we humans create.

A landmark Stanford study released in August 2025, analyzing ADP payroll data from millions of U.S. workers, found that employment for workers aged 22-25 in jobs most exposed to AI (like software development) dropped 6% between late 2022 and mid-2025. As the researchers noted, “This (paper provides) early, large-scale evidence consistent with the hypothesis that the AI revolution is beginning to have a significant and disproportionate impact on entry-level workers.”

The mega-corps making these machines say: “AI is just a tool we’ll adapt to as we’ve always adapted to new tech” and “sure, we’ll lose some jobs, but AI will also create new jobs.”

They’re comforting lines – but they don’t answer the real questions parents are asking. “Before, I would have told my kids to ‘just choose something to do with computers,’ and that was good-enough advice,” one client recently told me. “But now? I have no idea.”

Unfortunately, no one knows exactly what the future will look like. I certainly don’t have a crystal ball. But I do have half a lifetime of following my passion in search of my “dream job” and being constantly surprised by reality. If you’d told 18-year-old me that I would someday be a successful entrepreneur, I would have laughed in your face.

But based on my expertise with AI, my experience in life and business, and a review of the relevant research, I do have some actionable advice for anyone trying to shepherd young people into adulthood.

 I’ve developed an evidence-based framework for helping anyone – especially young folks – trying to navigate the kind of accelerating change we’re all living through.

I call it LEAP: love of learning, emotional intelligence, adaptability and problem-solving.

• Love of learning. Real learning isn’t always comfortable. We need to help young people distinguish between harmful chronic stress and the productive, temporary frustrations that exist just outside their comfort zones – i.e. the learning zone.
• Emotional intelligence. We used to call these soft skills because they seemed mushy and hard-to-define compared to subjects like math and science. Today, emotional intelligence may be the most sought-after quality on any resume. The head of talent acquisition for BlackRock, one of the world’s largest investment firms, emphasizes relationship-building skills alongside AI fluency.
• Adaptability. My favorite read on this topic is Carol Dweck’s 2006 classic “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” in which she distinguishes the fixed mindset (i.e. believing abilities are static) from the more adaptable growth mindset, which believes that abilities can be developed through effort and learning.
• Problem-solving. Encompassing creativity, perseverance, curiosity and a desire to contribute, a passion for problem-solving will only become irrelevant when there are no longer any problems in the world, which is still a stretch even for my imagination.

Should we be selling young folks on philosophy degrees? I wouldn’t go that far. Computer science and computer engineering grads often still have higher pay and lower underemployment, despite elevated unemployment. But we should be encouraging the next generation to form their identities around purpose rather than specific job titles. Instead of “I want to be a programmer,” explore “I want to use technology to solve problems that matter.”

This isn’t feel-good fluff. Research confirms that people with a strong sense of life purpose recover faster emotionally after setbacks. Someone whose dream is to use technology to lift their family from poverty walks a more resilient path than someone whose entire identity rests on becoming a world-class computer engineer.

By fostering a love of learning and problem solving, celebrating emotional intelligence, and developing a more adaptable mindset, young people can surf the crest of change rather than being swept under by it.

That’s advice worth following no matter what the future looks like.

Gabriel Cassady co-owns local marketing and communication agency 2 Oddballs LLC with his wife, Kylie, and additionally provides AI consulting services. He can be reached at gabriel@2oddballs.com.