Chasing Talent: How Technology Helps Attract Young Professionals Amid a Talent Shortage

 

The global IT market is facing a talent crisis: the rapid development of technologies, especially in the field of generative AI, has exacerbated an already pressing talent shortage. According to the recent IMF report, by 2030, the shortage of tech talent could balloon to over 85 million professionals, potentially resulting in a staggering $8 trillion in annual revenue loss.

 

On top of that, attracting and retaining young Generation Z professionals has become increasingly challenging, as their values and expectations from employers differ significantly from those of previous generations. We’d like to explain how generative AI is becoming a key tool in the race for talent, helping companies maintain their competitiveness in the job market.

Generation AI and talent shortage

In recent years, Generation Z has gained a rather mixed reputation among employers. Social media is flooded with memes and reels about Gen Z employees expecting senior-level salaries right out of university, quitting by lunchtime on their first day, accusing their managers of violating work-life balance for sending emails outside working hours, refusing to do mundane tasks, and so on. If we translate these memes into numbers, 86% of Gen Z professionals are increasingly willing to reject tasks and employers that do not align with their values, and work-life balance is their top priority when choosing a job.

 

At the same time, research shows that these individuals often adapt to change faster than their “older” colleagues, are more open to new ideas and risks, exhibit leadership qualities regardless of their job level, and prioritise teamwork.

 

So, how can companies truly win over Gen Z talent in the long run? Gen Z is the first generation to have grown up entirely in the digital era. Their lives have revolved around cutting-edge technology for as long as they can remember—from smartphones to VR devices. Perhaps this rapid technological progress is why they are so adept at adapting to change effortlessly.

 

But it’s not just about smartphones: smart assistants, chatbots in various applications, voice assistants with familiar names, and other “co-pilots” that provide quick suggestions have become an integral part of their daily lives. With the rise of ChatGPT, reliance on AI-powered interactions has only deepened. Gen Z actively incorporates AI tools into their studies and everyday lives and expects these skills to be as useful in the workplace. For them, generative AI is not a futuristic concept but a natural extension of technological evolution, a tool that should always be available to streamline tasks and enhance efficiency.

 

If a company lacks such tools, Gen Z employees may perceive it as outdated and unwilling to “keep up with technology,” negatively impacting their decision to accept or stay in a job.

How GenAI transforms the workplace

So, with the help of generative AI assistants like Tovie AI’s Data Agent, Gen Z professionals starting their careers can access a vast knowledge base. Every young specialist has faced a situation where they lacked the experience or knowledge to complete a task but felt embarrassed to ask “simple” questions for fear of appearing incompetent. This knowledge gap can slow professional growth. In this context, AI offers a safe and comfortable learning environment. It allows employees to rephrase questions, request additional explanations, or see examples to fill knowledge gaps and gain confidence in their professional roles.

 

Generative AI can also significantly simplify onboarding for new employees. Imagine an intelligent chatbot always available to answer any question a newcomer might have. It can provide personalised instructions, simulate real work scenarios, or serve as a navigator through the company’s knowledge base. Instead of dull manuals, new hires get an interactive dialogue that helps them quickly understand their new environment.

 

However, it’s important to note that LLMs (large language models) cannot handle this task alone—they don’t inherently have access to a company’s internal documents. To ensure AI can pull data from external sources, such as a corporate knowledge base, companies need to integrate Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)—a technique that enhances AI-generated responses by incorporating relevant contextual information. This feature benefits not only newcomers but also all employees who need efficient access to internal data.

 

Mundane tasks exist in every workplace, but Gen Z tends to tire of them faster than others. This may be due to their short attention spans, making it difficult to focus on repetitive tasks for long periods. Providing AI-powered tools can not only boost employee efficiency but also help prevent burnout, something that statistics show can happen within a year of starting a new job.

 

Today, AI can assist with almost any task: content generation, creative brainstorming, email drafting, data analysis and summarisation, meeting transcriptions, and even coding. However, searching for the right AI tool for each specific task can take time, and using a single multimodal LLM may result in lower-quality responses. The optimal solution is to implement a platform that grants access to the most powerful AI models in the form of AI-driven applications. Some of these products can even be deployed within a company’s internal infrastructure, addressing security concerns when working with AI.

GenAI skills as the new standard of expertise

Amid a shortage of qualified professionals and shifting expectations from the new generation of workers, generative AI is transitioning from a technological novelty to a tactical instrument for attracting and retaining talent. Moreover, studies show that companies with a higher level of employee participation in innovation adapt more quickly to changing market conditions. This is particularly true for technology companies, where employees are often the “zero clients”—the first users—of the products being developed.

 

Today, there are various ways to foster a corporate AI culture:

 

• PwC has gamified its AI learning program by regularly hosting themed quizzes and relay races tailored to company activities.

• Ally Financial has developed a mentorship program where AI experts educate employees about the technology and assist them in mastering it.

• At Adobe, there has been a surge in employee engagement in beta-testing AI-powered products, followed by providing feedback to improve features.

 

Such initiatives enhance employees’ AI-related skills and cultivate a culture of innovation and engagement. Employees feel like they are contributing to something that will “change the world,” as many say about generative AI today. This suggests that non-material motivation may be one of the keys to discovering and keeping talent in an era of workforce turbulence.