{"id":353281,"date":"2025-11-03T19:31:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/353281\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T19:31:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:31:16","slug":"job-openings-have-plunged-32-since-chatgpts-debut-now-35k-healthcare-work-is-one-career-option-left-for-gen-z-according-to-a-stanford-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/353281\/","title":{"rendered":"Job openings have plunged 32% since ChatGPT’s debut\u2014now, $35K healthcare work is one career option left for Gen Z, according to a Stanford study"},"content":{"rendered":"

For months, leaders from Ford CEO Jim Farley<\/a> to the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell<\/a> have sounded the alarm that AI could wipe out entry-level jobs.<\/p>\n

Now, newly released data suggests they could be right: Since ChatGPT\u2019s rise, job postings across the U.S. have fallen by about 32%, according to data from the Federal Reserve<\/a>, as employers increasingly turn to AI tools and automation to boost efficiency.<\/p>\n

Young workers appear to be bearing the brunt. A recent Stanford University report<\/a> on AI\u2019s impact on employment echoes that Gen Z, in particular, have hit a wall. Although overall employment in the economy continues to grow, job postings for early-career workers aged 22-25 have experienced a 13% drop since 2022 in more AI-exposed fields.<\/p>\n

These professions, like software development<\/a> and customer service representatives\u2014once popular pathways for young workers\u2014are in \u201csubstantial\u201d decline, the report warned.<\/p>\n

But amid the bleak data, there\u2019s one bright spot: healthcare<\/a>\u2014and specifically, home health aides.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The role ranks among the least AI-exposed occupations while also experiencing strong growth, with nearly 740,000 new home health aide positions expected to open up over the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>. What\u2019s more, the field is one of the only areas where employment for young workers has actually been growing faster<\/a> than for older workers.<\/p>\n

Granted, the median annual pay of about $35,000 isn\u2019t the dream salary for most Gen Z workers. Still, the barrier to entry is low\u2014requiring only a high school diploma and short-term on-the-job training\u2014and the sector\u2019s stability offers something rare in an uncertain labor market. And while it might not be glamorous, it provides a foothold in one of the few industries largely insulated from automation.<\/p>\n

A growing demand for healthcare workers: Nearly 2 million jobs up for grabs<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of frontline caregivers, exposing long-standing shortages<\/a> and burnout across hospitals and nursing homes. And as baby boomers retire<\/a> en masse, demand for healthcare workers is only expected to intensify. In fact, over the next decade, the U.S. is expected to see about 1.9 million healthcare job openings each year, according to BLS data<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And unlike home health aides, many healthcare jobs come with substantial paychecks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Take nurse practitioners, for example. The median annual pay is about $130,000, and the field is projected to grow by 40%, with 128,400 new roles expected over the next decade\u2014making it the third-fastest growing occupation<\/a> in the country. While the path requires advanced education, it offers long-term financial stability, something that\u2019s becoming increasingly rare in today\u2019s rapidly changing job market.<\/p>\n

Other job titles, including physician assistants, nurse anesthetists, and health services managers, offer similar perks: high pay, job security, and upward mobility.<\/p>\n

AI is expected to leave healthcare jobs alone\u2014for now<\/p>\n

As AI continues to reshape the workplace and threaten millions of white-collar jobs, healthcare stands out as one of the safest sectors.<\/p>\n

Geoffrey Hinton<\/a>, the computer science pioneer often called the \u201cGodfather of AI,\u201d has predicted that only \u201cvery skilled\u201d workers will have jobs in the near future. Yet even he believes healthcare workers will remain resilient.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re much more elastic,\u201d Hinton explained earlier this year on The Diary of a CEO<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you could make doctors five times as efficient, we could all have five times as much healthcare for the same price,\u201d he added. \u201cThere\u2019s almost no limit to how much health care people can absorb\u2014[patients] always want more healthcare if there\u2019s no cost to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Google<\/a> DeepMind<\/a> CEO Demis Hassabis<\/a>\u2014who envisions AI curing diseases and even helping colonize the Milky Way in the near future\u2014says the human element of care is irreplaceable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that we won\u2019t want to do with a machine,\u201d he said. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t want a robot nurse\u2014there\u2019s something about the human empathy aspect of that care that\u2019s particularly humanistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Are you Gen Z and working outside your dream career path? Tell your story with us at preston.fore@fortune.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For months, leaders from Ford CEO Jim Farley to the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have sounded the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":353282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[16778,3991,210,1141,1142,420,62524,31367,67,132,68,44171],"class_list":{"0":"post-353281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-careers","9":"tag-gen-z","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-health-care","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-jobs","14":"tag-the-future-of-work","15":"tag-u-s-workers","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-young-workers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115487433503479155","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}