Where Have All the Jobs Gone?

If you are a job applicant and finding your next great role feels more like a battle than a process, you are not alone, and you're not wrong. In recent years, business leaders almost seem at odds with employees, rather than in alignment. And this shows up in the hiring process, with limited opportunities and mistrust and missed expectations on both sides.

But here's the secret: by putting yourself in the shoes of business leaders, you can crack the code for becoming the desirable candidate that stands out, instead of another potential line item for them to manage. It's worth understanding the implicit assumptions business leaders have about talent, because this is shaping their hiring behavior. And even if individual hiring managers don't see things the same way, those leaders are the ones ultimately approving roles, budgets, and salaries.

So what are those implicit assumptions? Today's turbulent macroeconomic environment and rapid technological change are giving rise to three main mindsets in the C-suite.

A "win" for workers is viewed as a "loss" for the business

As business expenses have increased, leaders are laser focused on reducing costs, and unfortunately, labor remains the largest expense for most organizations. Of course, this cost has some organizational value. Research has consistently shown that investing in people yields larger returns through more engaged, skilled workers. But in turbulent economic times, business leaders tend to revert to the view that money spent on people is money leaving the business, and off the balance sheet.

This mindset is prevalent in nearly every industry, and it's showing up in the broader labor market data. It's no coincidence that there are fewer open roles than there used to be, or that the job market is described as "frozen", and the job hunt process described (understatedly) as "tough".

It's not just whether the jobs exist, but what companies are willing to pay for the ones that do. Sixty percent of business leaders believe job candidates are asking for more than their skills are worth, further illustrating the tug-of-war happening with talent spend and hiring.

The solution: bring indispensable human skills. Talent, at scale, is expensive. But even in today's environment having skilled, high-performing talent is imperative. It has been said that the highest performers in an organization deliver eight times as much value as their peers, and that the cost to replace these stars can amount to three to four times their salary.

It's not just about being good with AI. Some of the most hotly in-demand skills of today are uniquely human ones: companies need people who excel in collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and judgment. Ultimately, they are seeking stars who bring real human talent beyond what machines can do. This is why nearly half of all business leaders say they would pay more for a candidate who can demonstrate creativity and innovation skills.

The return on investment in these employees, at least, is clear to business leaders. So positioning yourself as one of these higher performers is the key to cutting through their cost anxiety. What are the things you most excel at? Where do you find value others might miss? How do you bring collaboration and judgment skills to the table? By having clear answers to these questions, you become a safer hiring bet even in an economic downturn.

The skills they need are impossible to find (or even identify)

The truth is, AI rocked the foundation business leaders were previously operating on. The technology landscape has advanced faster than traditional organizational structures can keep up. Leaders know they need AI skills among their ranks, but many are operating with a blind spot when it comes to what specific skills are needed, and which will still be relevant by next year.

Even when leaders do identify the right set of skills (a moving target), assessing them accurately is difficult. Most of our rigorously tested, valid hiring and selection criteria are based around measuring past performance and behaviors to predict how someone will perform in the future. But AI is requiring something new, all the time.

The solution: market yourself as a learner. We may not know for sure what skills will be relevant a year from now, but we do know one thing: employees who learn, and learn fast, are more valuable than ever. As AI rapidly changes how we work, being adaptable, open to new information, and inventive in the face of change allows workers to command a premium.

It's tempting to position yourself as someone who has all the answers in order to get hired, but in today's environment, it may make more sense to showcase times you had to adapt or rethink. What change did you not see coming, and how did you pivot? How have you applied new information toward changing direction? These are the stories that will capture the attention of business leaders struggling to navigate their companies (and people!) through continuous change.

They believe AI will make the messy work of employing people less necessary

For the business leaders following the AI conversation carefully, there is an apparent light at the end of the tunnel: if AI tools are getting better every day, eventually they will be able to execute work previously managed by humans. The very same humans who are expensive, difficult to assess, and risky to hire will actually no longer be a necessary part of a company's growth.

While this may sound dystopian, there is plenty of evidence in today's labor market that leaders are betting on AI over people. The highly visible layoffs and reductions in worker benefits of the last year reveal companies are planning for more AI, and preparing for a future in which its capabilities match or exceed those of humans. Just ask the 85 percent of functional leaders planning to increase their already large AI budgets.

The solution: consider how projects make your resume and portfolio stronger. If you feel blocked from accessing the work opportunities that would help you gain uniquely human skills or market yourself as a learner in the first place, you're not alone. There is a high chance your existing or previous work experiences have failed to prepare you for what's next, with more than one in two workers fearing their skillset is becoming obsolete.

So if your formal work experience hasn't given you a lot of opportunity to position yourself as an indispensable learner, consider how else you might get access to practicing and applying those skills. Is there a project you can take on? Is there something you can learn and apply on your own, beyond the bounds of a formal job (bonus points if that "something" involves combining your judgment and creativity with the capabilities of AI)? Experience and initiative don't only happen in a 9-to-5 job, and project-based achievements may be the key to building a stronger resume and personal brand.

The experts agree: today's job market is, to put it mildly, tough. And the harsh reality is, it's being made tougher by the prevailing mindsets around talent and technology that exist in today's C-suite. But understanding those mindsets gives you the edge. It's the difference between being seen as the candidate who is asking for too much, falling short on skills, and being a human cost in an AI world, and being the expert business leaders can't afford to pass up.