An article from Dive Brief Gen Z says AI has made their college degrees irrelevant

New-to-market job seekers are feeling the effects of fervent AI adoption more acutely than any other generation, according to Indeed.

Published April 29, 2025 Roberto Torres Editor

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Job seekers attends the JobNewsUSA.com South Florida Job Fair on June 26, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. Young adults are more likely than their older counterparts to say AI rendered their education irrelevant. Joe Raedle via Getty Images

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Listen to the article 3 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive Brief:

• Younger job seekers are more concerned than their older counterparts about AI’s effect on their skill sets and education, according to an Indeed report published Monday. The job site commissioned a Harris Poll survey of 772 U.S. adult workers and job seekers with an associate’s degree or higher for the report.
• Businesses show no signs of slowing AI adoption, and already almost half of Gen Z job seekers say the technology's adoption has made their college education irrelevant, compared with about one-third of Millennials. About 1 in 5 Gen Z and baby boomer survey takers say the same of their college education.
• The ongoing push to deemphasize college degree requirements in job postings has led half of Gen Z job seekers to view their degrees as a waste of time and money, according to the report.  

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The deluge of AI adoption in the workplace has influenced in-demand roles, salary trends and even the C-suite’s purview. The effect is far from over, with younger generations grappling with the potential for additional disruptions ahead.

Every job currently posted on Indeed's job board will likely experience some level of exposure to generative AI and the changes it represents, according to Indeed Senior Talent Strategy Advisor Linsey Fagan.

"For any organization to succeed with AI, every single employee needs to have a basic understanding of AI and how their company uses it," Fagan said in an email to CIO Dive. "Leaders play a crucial role in this shift by assessing their teams, listening to individual needs, and supporting their development."

One way CIOs have responded to the wave of change is by creating upskilling programs. Technology vendors, eager to remove the obstacles toward enterprise adoption, have also deployed training programs open to the general public.

Online learning and training platform O'Reilly found skyrocketing demand for AI-specific training last year, according to a January report. The number of professionals seeking training on AI principles more than quadrupled last year, the firm said.

"To truly unlock the potential of AI, organizations must invest in their people, offering training, hands-on experiences and opportunities to explore new tools in a supportive environment," Fagan said. "Organizations need employees to be motivated to try these tools and want to apply them in their day to day."

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