Patricia Goodwin-Peters - Preparing for the Next Workforce Disruption
AI is not just changing jobs — it is eliminating many of them, especially at the administrative entry level. Recent reporting from Axios, The New York Times, and the World Economic Forum all point to the same conclusion:
The pace of AI disruption is accelerating — faster than most leaders expected.
The World Economic Forum projects a net gain of 2 million jobs globally by 2027 due to AI. But that gain will not be evenly distributed. And without a plan, the loss of entry-level roles could do more than disrupt staffing. It could weaken the very pipeline that feeds future leadership.
With those foundational roles disappearing, we are not just losing headcount. We are eroding the systems that helped people grow, observe, absorb, and stretch into more complex responsibilities. These jobs were never just about task completion. They offered the first glimpse into how organizations function and where careers could go.
But here’s the good news: We’ve been here before. And this time, we can do better.
We’ve Seen What Happens When We Do Not Prepare
During the blue-collar automation era, entire industries were restructured. Assembly line workers in automotive manufacturing, forklift operators in logistics, and textile workers in domestic factories — to name a few — held roles that had supported families and built communities. Many of those jobs were swept away. Some regions and populations never fully recovered.
Many people were left without a next step.
But not all companies turned away. Some leaned in. They retrained workers. They redesigned jobs. They reimagined what a future path could look like.
The results were mixed — but the message was clear:
Disruption without intentional design leaves people behind.
Disruption with foresight can lead to something more resilient — and more just.
What Entry-Level Roles Actually Do
We now have a chance to apply those hard-earned lessons to the white-collar workforce. Rather than simply eliminating entry-level jobs, we should be asking: What should take their place? Let us replace them with roles that teach, stretch, and prepare — roles that build a new first rung, this time designed with intention.
Because these roles, though often viewed as transactional, have long served a deeper purpose. They did far more than just keep the machine running. They built the people who would one day run it.
They gave people:
- Context — How decisions are made and information flows
- Situational awareness — How teams function under pressure and adapt to shifting priorities
- Organizational rhythm — When to act, when to wait, and how to anticipate what’s next
- Early exposure to leadership — Even if they were not in the room, they were close enough to learn how it worked
They were not just jobs. They were training grounds — places where people quietly learned how to lead.
Now Is the Time to Rebuild That First Rung
We do not need to preserve every entry-level job, but we must protect the purpose those roles serve. That means:
- Creating roles that offer visibility and stretch
- Designing pathways that allow for rotation, shadowing, and ownership
- Using AI to remove drudgery, not development
- Elevating junior work as strategic foundation, not disposable labor
We have the tools. We have the insight. We even have the funding, if we choose to invest it wisely. We can make this a moment of reinvention. A chance to rebuild the systems that help people learn, grow, and lead — not just perform tasks.
This time, we know what happens if we do nothing. So let’s choose to do something better.
Let’s build work that grows people — not just workflows.
Patricia Goodwin-Peters
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