Workquake Weekly

Is AI destroying jobs, enriching them, or doing a bit of both?In this episode of Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan explores a new research tool released by AI company Anthropic designed to detect when AI is displacing workers across occupations. On the surface, it sounds like responsible foresight. But Steve asks a deeper question: if we’re building sophisticated systems to track job loss, why aren’t we building equally powerful tools to track job enrichment?Drawing on new surveys from Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, and others, Steve looks at the growing anxiety among Gen Z and Millennial workers who are trying to adapt quickly to AI while hearing mixed signals from the companies building it. At the same time, he highlights the massive investments companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Google are making in reskilling millions of workers around the world.This episode explores the real challenge leaders face today: not just managing disruption, but shaping a more balanced and hopeful narrative about how AI can expand human potential at work.Because the future of work isn’t something that just happens to us. It’s something we shape.

This week, Steve Cadigan tackles the emotional rollercoaster around AI, flipping the script from fear and FOMO to understanding and real confidence. You’ll learn:Why panic isn’t the answer—and what questions leaders should be asking insteadHow “talent velocity” (a concept highlighted in a recent LinkedIn report) puts learning security ahead of job securityWhy AI adoption isn’t a sprint but a human-centered learning cyclePractical examples from AT&T, Unilever, and Guild on building internal learning pathways and talent marketplacesFour focus areas for leaders: speeding up learning, safe experimentation, rewarding curiosity, and redesigning roles for ongoing developmentTune in to replace anxiety with real confidence, and discover how to build organizations that move at the pace of human capability—not just the technology curve.https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/talent-velocity-report

This week, Steve digs into a startling The Wall Street Journal report revealing that, for many Americans, healthcare expenses are now outpacing mortgage payments. Drawing on his own experience as an independent business owner, he explores how soaring premiums and shrinking coverage have turned “healthcare plans” into little more than catastrophic safety nets, and what that means for families and employers alike.Steve breaks down why today’s healthcare system has become so entrenched—and so maddeningly hard to fix—touching on politics, economics, insurance, technology, and fear. He then connects the dots to the workplace, showing how healthcare costs distort career mobility, fuel job-lock, and even clash with the adaptability we tout in the age of AI.Tune in for practical steps leaders can take right now to acknowledge this pressure, rethink benefits conversations, and share risk more thoughtfully within their organizations.Key Takeaway:It’s time to stop treating healthcare as an afterthought. By facing these costs head-on, leaders can help unleash the very innovation and agility they expect from their teams.If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow the podcast, and leave a review so you don’t miss future insights. And if you’ve read my book Workquake, I’d really appreciate you taking a minute to leave a review on Amazon—your support helps keep the conversation going. See you next Friday.https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/aca-health-insurance-cost-subsidies-expire-37a595a9?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcQ7hAaSlDjbCAqfsAQMOwm1hC6_7vzfnGefpGP4BIzLzcna72YedGU9kXGyCw%3D&gaa_ts=697a76f5&gaa_sig=wcby4hKof7dCDgOEZnZEaEP0NX8WO6sJ_c0ALGjs9IBt4--ExX_qSz1hGW4jjzh-AjFGTxjcNNA8GAjfDLTNOA%3D%3D

A landmark trial in Los Angeles is testing a hard question: did social media product design cause real harm, especially for younger users? This isn’t a hearing. It’s a courtroom, with jurors and evidence, focused less on content moderation and more on product architecture… infinite scroll, autoplay, notification loops, and the incentives behind them. Steve connects this “tobacco trial moment” to the future of work and AI, arguing that design choices are never neutral and that leadership, not just technology, must carry responsibility. If social media is our seatbelt moment, AI might be the self-driving car. What guardrails will we choose, and how fast will we put them in place?What You Will LearnWhy this case centers on design decisions, not just user behaviorHow business models shape engagement and riskThe seatbelt analogy and what it teaches about cultural changePractical questions leaders should ask before shipping new techWhy thoughtful beats fastest in the long run

Feeling 2026 fatigue? You are not alone. In this episode, Steve digs into the prediction trap so many leaders are stuck in right now, chasing benchmarks and waiting for a safe best practice to appear. In a supersonic world, there are no benchmarks. The only real advantage is your ability to take your best shot, learn fast, and move.Steve reframes the AI conversation as a cultural challenge, not a technical one. If AI is only a cost play, your team will feel it. If AI is an enabler of more meaningful work, they will feel that too. You will hear how to set a clear belief about AI, how to fuel your pioneers rather than convince your skeptics, and how to stop outsourcing strategy to headlines.You will learn:Why waiting for best practices keeps you behind.How to state your personal belief about AI and lead from it.How to use AI to elevate people, not squeeze them.How to anchor decisions in what is truest for your team, not what is newest in the newsfeed.Try this week:The Meaning Audit: does your AI plan create more time for meaningful work, or just more work?Map Your Pioneers: find three early adopters using AI already, interview them, and channel their energy into your broader culture.If this episode helps clear the fog, follow, share, and leave a review. And if you want to compare notes or talk about your own AI beliefs, connect with Steve on LinkedIn.

Email promised speed and delivered FOMO. In this episode, Steve reacts to Google’s deeper AI features in Gmail, calls out the irony of tech solving a problem it helped create, and reframes the real win of AI: buying back quiet time. We dig into how summaries, prioritization, and automated triage can free up hours, why creativity lives in the margins, and how leaders can shift from frantic processing to thoughtful insight. Inspired by reporting from The Verge on Gmail’s new AI.

Rethinking New Year’s ResolutionsNew Year’s resolutions rarely stick because they start with wishes, not reality. In this episode, Steve Cadigan shares a simple, honest alternative he learned from Tim Ferriss, the Past Year Review. Instead of guessing what to change, you look back at what actually happened, who and what gave you energy, and what quietly drained you. From there, you make small, meaningful adjustments that fit real life, at work and at home.In this episodeA 4 step Past Year Review you can do in under an hourWhy energy, not time, is the real constraintHow to spot patterns in your calendar and protect what mattersPractical ways to set boundaries, say yes with intention, and build in joy on purposePerfect for leaders, parents, and anyone ready to design a year that feels aligned, not performative.If you enjoy the show, follow Workquake Weekly and leave a quick review. It helps more people find these conversations.

What can the NBA teach us about modern leadership? In this fast, practical episode, Steve riffs on a Wall Street Journal piece about Chris Paul’s retirement and the fading era of the classic “floor general.” On the court and at work, running everything through one person no longer fits the speed and complexity of today. Steve breaks down how the Warriors reinvented offense with shared playmaking, then connects it to how teams can share decision making, move faster, and become more resilient.You’ll hear why centralized control collapses under modern complexity, how leadership can be a behavior instead of a title, and exactly where to start if you’ve built your career on being the hub for every decision. Expect concrete moves you can try this week, like rotating who leads meetings, pushing decisions to the edges, removing one bottleneck, and running short retros to learn quickly.If the NBA can evolve, so can your team. This is the Workquake in action, and the future belongs to leaders who design for speed, autonomy, and trust.

Most AI headlines still shout about job loss. This week, I unpack McKinsey’s new State of AI report and the story is very different. Yes, many companies are experimenting, piloting, and playing. Only a small fraction are seeing real profit lift today. The ones that are winning share a pattern: they redesign how work gets done, they pursue growth and innovation, and they keep people at the center. We dig into what high performers do differently across manufacturing, consumer, finance, and life sciences, why workflow redesign beats tool buying, and how intent and trust shape adoption. If you lead people, this episode gives you a simple, practical lens to spot value, reduce fear, and build skills that elevate your teams.You’ll learn:Why growth goals outperform cost cutting in AI initiativesHow workflow redesign becomes the strongest predictor of impactWhat high performers prioritize across industries, from personalization to agentic systemsThe people moves that matter most, including reskilling and leader literacyHow to shift the narrative so employees feel enhanced, not reducedTakeaway:The best AI strategies are talent strategies. Start with value creation, redesign the work, invest in hybrid human–AI skills, and measure outcomes, not pilot activity.McKinsey AI Report 2025 : https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai

In this special, more personal episode, Steve looks past the headlines and into his own home to explore why early career paths feel so discouraging for today’s students. Using Lindsay Ellis’s Wall Street Journal article, “Companies Predict 2026 Will Be the Worst College Grad Job Market in Five Years,” as a springboard, Steve shares the real conversations he’s hearing from his college-senior son and from campuses around the country: ghosting, silence, fewer internships, and shrinking campus recruiting. Yet there’s real hope. This cohort was forged in Covid, and many aren’t waiting for permission. They’re building side hustles, micro-startups, creator businesses, and portfolios that prove capability. Steve challenges leaders to fix the early experience and invites families to support zigzags over straight lines. It’s a clear, human reset for anyone navigating or hiring into the messy first step of work.The early-career “handshake deal” is dissolving: students do the work, the system returns silence.Push factors (ghosting, black-hole processes) are beating corporate pull factors.Covid-shaped grads are unusually adaptive and entrepreneurial.Leaders must redesign the first mile of work: responsive communication, real projects, faster feedback.Families can champion experimentation, portfolios, and non-linear paths.Wall Street Journal article by Lindsay Ellis, “Companies Predict 2026 Will Be the Worst College Grad Job Market in Five Years.”https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/2026-graduates-job-market-7928bcd7?st=Lbd1QE&reflink=article_copyURL_share

Are our AI shields down? In this short, reflective episode, Steve explores how quickly skepticism around AI has faded and why that matters for leaders, teams, and culture. He unpacks the subtle forces behind the rush to adopt, from fear of being left behind to groupthink inside organizations, and offers a simple mindset: trust, but verify. Expect practical questions you can use with your team this week, plus a nudge to teach people how to think with AI, not for it.You’ll hear about:Why growing confidence in AI can mask complacency and confusionHow leadership pressure for speed can crowd out reflectionSimple prompts to bring curiosity, context, and healthy skepticism back into your workflowMentioned:The New Yorker, “The Case That A.I. Is Thinking,” by James Somers.

This week on Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan dives into one of the biggest myths in today’s workplace — that AI is killing entry-level jobs.Spoiler alert: it’s not.Drawing on Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky’s recent comments that “AI can do the interns’ work, but leaders should still hire Gen Z,” Steve explores why cutting early-career roles is one of the most dangerous mistakes companies can make — and how it’s quietly dismantling the leadership ladder from the bottom up.He shares lessons from his time building LinkedIn’s early-career hiring programs, explains the real culture cost of removing young talent, and makes the case for why Gen Z might be the generation best equipped to help organizations use AI more intelligently.You’ll learn:Why the “AI took my job” narrative misses the real issue.How skipping entry-level hiring sabotages your future leadership pipeline.How to redesign early-career roles so humans and AI actually work better together.Why Gen Z could be your company’s best AI accelerators.And as always, Steve leaves you with a Workquake Challenge to turn insight into action — by reimagining one role on your team for the age of AI.Tone: Conversational, optimistic, and deeply human — this episode is a wake-up call for leaders who want to future-proof their culture and their talent.🎙️ Workquake Weekly — helping you make sense of the chaos we call modern work… one short episode at a time.https://fortune.com/2025/10/30/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-ai-can-do-intern-work-bosses-should-hire-gen-z-lose-management-automation-employment-hiring-advice/

This week on Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan unpacks a powerful truth Brené Brown shared at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit: “If you’re leading people, you probably know people are not okay.”In an age of nonstop change, AI disruption, and emotional overload, leaders aren’t just managing projects — they’re managing nervous systems. Steve explores why burnout today is less about weakness and more about biology, how disconnection shows up before disengagement, and what great leaders are doing differently to restore trust, calm, and meaning at work.If you’re leading anyone — or just trying to stay grounded yourself — this episode is your reminder that being human isn’t a liability. It’s the advantage.🎧 Listen in under 10 minutes — and start leading like it’s 2025, not 1999.

AI has officially moved from curiosity to urgency. But before we race ahead, Steve Cadigan asks a better question: Fast enough… toward what?In this episode of Workquake Weekly, Steve explores how AI could finally repair our broken relationship with technology — if we let it. From burnout to trust, from productivity to potential, this is a call to leaders everywhere to rethink what “progress” really means.Because the defining question of this era isn’t “How fast can we deploy AI?”It’s “Will we use AI to bring people back — to creativity, curiosity, and possibility?”Listen for practical hope and grounded wisdom on how leaders can make AI a force for human good.

This week on Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan unpacks a quiet shift in tech compensation: companies are moving from the classic four-year, even vesting schedule to front-loaded equity. Think 40/30/20/10 or even three-year designs. Why the change, what it signals, and how it might reshape trust, loyalty, and performance at work. Steve explores potential drivers like offer competitiveness, accounting optics, and the rise of refresher grants tied to impact, along with the tradeoffs that could speed up churn or strengthen engagement. If you lead people, negotiate offers, or design rewards, this short episode will help you rethink equity as more than retention math, and more like a performance promise.What you’ll learn:• Why many firms are moving away from 25/25/25/25• How front-loaded equity changes behavior and incentives• The role of refresher grants in rewarding real impact• Risks to watch, from shorter cycles to signaling effects• Practical questions to ask when evaluating an offer

This week on Workquake Weekly, we’re peeling back the curtain on something rare: CEOs getting real about AI and talent.Accenture’s Julie Sweet admits reskilling isn’t moving fast enough. Walmart’s Doug McMillon promises to guide employees “to the other side.” Both perspectives reveal a deeper tension: leaders are trying to look in control while racing to figure it out themselves.Are companies really ready to upskill at scale? Or are they just cramming for the AI exam and hoping to pass?In under 10 minutes, Steve unpacks what these CEO confessions mean for you, why fear-driven upskilling may backfire, and what to watch for in the next wave of earnings calls.If your CEO sounds like they’re cramming… they are. And so are we.

This week on Workquake Weekly, we’re stirring things up with a story that hits close to home — especially if you’re a coffee lover. Inspired by Heather Haddon’s recent piece in The Wall Street Journal, “Inside the Starbucks Plan to Get 200,000 Baristas on the Same Script,” we dive into one of the most pressing questions in today’s workplace:Can you engineer human connection… with a script?Steve unpacks Starbucks’ surprising move to give baristas more time to connect with customers — while also standardizing exactly how those connections should happen. It’s a fascinating case study in the delicate balancing act every leader is facing:Speed vs. Humanity. Efficiency vs. Experience. Cost vs. Culture.We explore:Why burnout is bad business — for employees and customersHow scripting authenticity might backfireWhat Starbucks’ decision says about the broader evolution of workAnd how you can rethink what you’re optimizing for in your own organizationWhether you’re leading a team, designing employee experience, or just ordering your next oat milk latte… this episode will get you thinking about what really drives connection — and why that matters more than ever.Tune in, reflect, and maybe look a little closer at your barista next time.☕If you enjoy the show, be sure to follow, rate, and leave a review. And if you’ve read Workquake, a review on Amazon goes a long way in helping others join the conversation. See you next Friday! https://www.wsj.com/business/hospitality/starbucks-barista-training-sales-b1f11395?st=unzGPP&reflink=article_copyURL_share

In this episode of Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan dives into something that feels almost rebellious in today’s always-on world: boredom.Inspired by Arthur Brooks’ recent article in Harvard Business Review, “You Need to Be Bored. Here’s Why,” Steve explores how boredom isn’t wasted time—it’s fertile ground for creativity, reflection, and even breakthrough ideas. From brain science to leadership strategy, Steve makes the case that embracing stillness might be the smartest move for anyone trying to innovate, lead, or simply think more clearly.He also shares a personal story, practical tips, and one simple challenge to help you tap into your creative default mode.If you’ve been feeling stuck, overstimulated, or just too busy to think—this episode might be the nudge you didn’t know you needed.https://hbr.org/2025/08/you-need-to-be-bored-heres-why by Arthur C. Brooks

AI feels brand new, but the pattern we’re living through is not. In this week’s episode, Steve Cadigan explores why most AI investments are failing to deliver value — and what history can teach us about breaking that cycle. Inspired by Ibanga Umanah’s article “From Email to AI: The Hidden Pattern Behind Tech Adoption Failure,” Steve examines why it’s so hard to let go of old processes, why unlearning may be the hardest skill of all, and how leaders can shift the question from “How do I do what I already do better with AI?” to “How can AI help me solve problems differently?”If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by AI hype or unsure where to start, this episode offers clarity, encouragement, and a powerful mindset shift for navigating what’s next in work.https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-email-ai-hidden-pattern-behind-tech-adoption-failure-umanah-gfmec

AI is supposed to be our shiny new superpower, yet many people feel embarrassed using it. In this episode, Steve digs into the rise of “AI shame” at work, unpacking a Times of India report, “AI Shame Is a Real Phenomenon in the Workplace, Claims Report: What Is Scaring Top Execs in America.” The surprising part, executives and Gen Z appear to be hiding it most. According to the survey Steve cites, 53% of executives conceal their AI use, and 62% of Gen Z pass off AI-generated work as their own. Formal training is scarce too, roughly 6–7% for Gen Z and 17% for executives, which means most people are winging it. No wonder 65% of Gen Z say AI slows them down, and 68% feel pressure to overperform.Steve connects this to earlier stigmas like online dating, then shifts the conversation to culture, identity, and how we define value when AI is always in the room. You’ll hear practical steps for leaders and teams, from setting norms on when and how AI can be used, to creating safe forums, to running low-stakes experiments that build confidence and transparency.What you’ll take away:• Why secrecy emerges when there is no playbook.• How to talk about contribution and originality in an AI-assisted world.• A simple starter plan for leaders and teams to make AI use normal, not taboo.If you find this helpful, follow the show and leave a quick review to support the conversation.