Gen Z faces a career crisis as the head of the world’s biggest talent company warns following your dreams is no longer good advice.

The CEO of the world’s biggest talent company has revealed the traditional university to office pathway is dead as Gen Z struggles to break into the job market.

Sander van ‘t Noordende, the global CEO of Randstad, said it’s no longer “good advice” to tell young people to follow their dreams.

Instead, they should follow a path that takes them into a craft or trade.

“People need to reflect on taking a student loan, going to college and being trained or educated for a profession that is rapidly changing, whether that’s still the right path,” he toldFortune.

“We all grew up, with our parents saying, ‘go do something in college or university and then do something in an office’ – that path that used to work for a long time is starting to break.

“Jobs will change – and are changing – but also new jobs will emerge.

“There is a massive demand in skilled trades, mechanical engineers, machine operators, maintenance engineers, forklift drivers, truck drivers – you name it.”

A number of entry level jobs are already starting to be replaced by AI, leaving those looking to enter the workforce for the first time scrambling to get a footing.

Something Mr van ‘t Noordende has noticed.

“You already see that with the graduates finding it harder to find a job,” he added.

“You see that in professions like marketing, communications, design … just look at how good AI already is at some of that.”

It comes as research revealedAussie companies are investing more into AIthan the next generation of workers.

The findings, from market intelligence firm International Data Corporation’s (IDC) AI at Work report, found the country’s entry-level crisis is worsening – with over 93 per cent of organisations revealing they anticipate reducing the general hiring of entry-level staff over the next one to five years.

Entry level jobs are being slashed in favour of AI. Picture: iStock

Traditional university degrees are also getting the chop, with only five per cent of businesses considering them a top requirement.

Meanwhile, 70 per cent of organisations have moved beyond pilot projects in their AI adoption, and over half are willing to pay a premium of 25 per cent or more for AI talent.

Nine in 10 are seeing role changes or job displacement due to the technology’s integration, which has 28 per cent undergoing significant workforce restructuring.

For those aiming for entry level roles, the requirements have changed with skills such as AI tools and coding boot camps highly rated, as well as problem-solving or critical thinking.

Although the future may not lie in white-collar roles, those who have already invested into tertiary education would be best to have a “mindset shift” and “retrain”.

STEM subjects in particular are likely remain in demand, Mr van ’t Noordende said.

“Look around you, and where you see the opportunities that match with your skills and your background, go there,” he said, adding at some point young people will have to “bite the bullet and say, ‘Okay, this is not working’.”

“Learning new skills is always good.”

In May 2025, the head of one of the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence labs warned thetechnology could eliminate half of all entry-level, white-collar jobswithin the next five years.

The CEO said Gen Z should look at pursuing careers in trades. Picture: Generic

Anthropic chief executive officer Dario Amodei toldCNN’sAnderson Cooper that politicians and businesses are not prepared for the spike in unemployment rates AI could prompt.

“AI is starting to get better than humans at almost all intellectual tasks, and we’re going to collectively, as a society, grapple with it,” the 42-year-old said in an interview with Cooper.

“AI is going to get better at what everyone does, including what I do, including what other CEOs do.”

The technology that companies like his are building, Mr Amodei said, could boost unemployment in America as high as 20 per cent by 2030.

Anthropic’s AI can work nearly seven hours a day, he said, and has the skills typically required of entry-level corporate workers – “the ability to summarise a document, analyse a bunch of sources and put it into a report, write computer code” – at the same standard “as a smart college student”.

“We can see where the trend is going, and that’s what’s driving some of the concern (about AI in the workforce),” Mr Amodei said.

“Most of them are unaware that this is about to happen. It sounds crazy, and people just don’t believe it.”