Workquake Weekly

🎓 This week on Workquake Weekly, we’re diving into the crisis that’s quietly reshaping the early career landscape: the disappearance of entry-level work.

With headlines flooding in from The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Financial Times, and more, it’s clear—this isn’t just a bad year for new grads. It’s a global shift. And it’s time we stop pretending otherwise.

In this episode, Steve Cadigan unpacks why the entry-level job market is drying up… and what we can do about it. From rethinking internships and onboarding strategies, to building better bridges between education and employment, this conversation is a wake-up call for leaders, educators, parents—and anyone trying to launch a career in 2025.

🔥 Plus: practical takeaways, a dose of optimism, and a big call to action for companies that want to stay competitive in the age of AI.

If you’re a grad, a parent, or someone who hires early talent—you don’t want to miss this one.

This week on Workquake Weekly, Steve unpacks a jarring headline: Ford just pulled its financial forecast for the year. With profits plunging and EV policy swinging wildly, one of America’s most iconic companies hit pause on long-term planning. But this isn’t just Ford’s problem. It’s a signal flare for every employer navigating the intersection of business, politics, and people.

In this episode, Steve explores how political volatility—not just AI or tech disruption—is reshaping workforce strategy in 2025. He reflects on the emotional toll of uncertainty for workers, the rising strategic burden on HR, and why today’s leaders need more than operational plans… they need civic agility.

Whether you’re running a factory or managing a team, this one’s for you.

Tune in for fresh insights, a challenge to spark honest conversations about volatility, and a call to lead with trust—even when the rules keep changing.

Podcast Description:

This week on Workquake Weekly, Steve unpacks a jarring headline: Ford just pulled its financial forecast for the year. With profits plunging and EV policy swinging wildly, one of America’s most iconic companies hit pause on long-term planning. But this isn’t just Ford’s problem. It’s a signal flare for every employer navigating the intersection of business, politics, and people.

In this episode, Steve explores how political volatility—not just AI or tech disruption—is reshaping workforce strategy in 2025. He reflects on the emotional toll of uncertainty for workers, the rising strategic burden on HR, and why today’s leaders need more than operational plans… they need civic agility.

Whether you’re running a factory or managing a team, this one’s for you.

Tune in for fresh insights, a challenge to spark honest conversations about volatility, and a call to lead with trust—even when the rules keep changing.

Hello everyone — welcome back to Workquake Weekly! I’m Steve Cadigan, and in this episode we’re getting personal… with AI.

That’s right. We’re not talking about AI in the abstract. We’re talking about AI and YOU. And me. And how it’s reshaping not just our workflows, but how we think about value, identity, and growth.

Here’s what we’ll dig into:

• Why graduation season isn’t just for students anymore

• How AI is shifting the question from “What do you do?” to “What do you uniquely bring?”

• Why soft skills are now power skills — and how to flex them

• What it means to build a mindset for reinvention

• And the one question I think everyone should sit with this week

Spoiler alert: this isn’t about competing with machines. It’s about becoming more human than ever before.

Ready to rethink your edge in the age of AI?

Let’s do this.

🎧 Listen now and check out the LinkedIn post that inspired this episode: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cadigan_its-graduation-season-and-the-career-advice-activity-7335357597136392192-nmSO

And if you’ve read my book Workquake, I’d love it if you left a quick review on Amazon — it really helps keep the momentum going.

Hey friends, Steve Cadigan here! This week on Workquake Weekly, we’re diving into two trends that might seem totally separate — but together, they’re telling a powerful story about where the future of work is headed.

First up: Gen Z is not waiting around for corporate ladders to offer stability. A new global study from Fiverr shows nearly 70% of Gen Z is leaning into freelancing — not as a backup plan, but as their main gig. Why? It’s not just about flexibility… it’s about agency, protection, and building something they can count on.

Then we look at a growing shift in how companies scale: small teams are making a big comeback. New research from MNP shows that some of the most efficient and profitable companies today are going public with fewer than 20 employees. Agile, fast-moving, customer-focused — these lean teams are proving that small can be a superpower.

Together, these shifts are pushing us to ask: Are we building organizations based on control… or trust? Are we designing work for the world we used to live in — or the one we’re in now?

Tune in for a fresh, optimistic look at how we can build better, more human workplaces — one decision at a time.

This week on Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan dives into two rising trends that are shaking up how we think about work: ghost jobs and micro-retirements. On the surface, they couldn’t be more different — one’s frustrating job seekers, the other’s helping employees reset. But together, they reveal a deeper truth: our old strategies for hiring, planning, and leading might be past their prime.

Steve breaks down why “just-in-case” job postings are backfiring in a world craving clarity, and how short, intentional breaks could be the leadership unlock we’ve been missing.

If you’re rethinking how to build trust, momentum, and performance in today’s workplace, this episode is for you. Tune in to explore what it means to lead with more intention — and maybe even press pause, on purpose.

🎙 Topics covered:

• The hidden cost of ghost job postings

• Micro-retirements and the power of a purposeful pause

• Why the future of leadership is about trust, not just output

In this debut episode of Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan explores how two companies—Moderna and Klarna—are making bold, contrasting moves in the age of AI. One is merging tech and HR leadership to build a more integrated future. The other is learning what happens when efficiency trumps empathy. What do these stories reveal about leadership, talent, and the real role of AI? Tune in for fresh insights—and a challenge for how you lead next.