Workquake Weekly

Steve Cadigan
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  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Most leaders are asking the wrong question about AI. Workquake Weekly is where we find the right one. Each week, Steve Cadigan, LinkedIn's founding CHRO and author of Workquake, breaks down what's actually happening at the intersection of AI, talent, and organizational transformation. Not hype. Not fear. The patterns that separate companies building lasting competitive advantage from those chasing a mirage. Ten minutes. One insight. Every week. For more on Steve visit stevecadigan.com

  1. 5D AGO

    Who's running your company in 2035?

    Three headlines from this week in work, and the pattern connecting them. Steve breaks down: why dropping degree requirements barely moved the needle on who actually gets hired (fewer than 1 in 700 hires affected), why 55% of HR leaders regret their AI-driven layoffs and one in three companies are now spending more on rehiring than they ever saved, and why a 40% collapse in entry-level tech hiring is quietly mortgaging the leadership pipeline of 2035. The thread tying it together: companies are making decisions that look smart this quarter but will look like obvious mistakes a decade from now. 10 minutes. No fluff. Find Steve on LinkedIn to keep the conversation going.

    5 min

  2. APR 19

    Loyalty Is a Broken Contract And it's time to stop pretending otherwise

    Loyalty Is a Broken Contract… And It’s Time to Stop Pretending Otherwise What if the biggest misunderstanding in the workplace today isn’t about AI, remote work, or even talent shortages… but about loyalty? In this episode of Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan challenges one of the most deeply held assumptions in leadership: that employees should be loyal to organizations, even as the terms of employment have fundamentally changed. From companies reducing entry-level roles in anticipation of AI, to return-to-office mandates pushing top performers out the door, the signals are everywhere. The traditional “loyalty in exchange for security” contract no longer reflects reality. And yet, many organizations are still operating as if it does. Steve unpacks what he calls the “Employer Loyalty Paradox” and explores why this disconnect continues to persist… even when both employers and employees know the old model is broken. Drawing on his experience as LinkedIn’s first Chief HR Officer, Steve shares the story behind the “Tour of Duty” approach… a more transparent, growth-focused model that reframes the employer-employee relationship around mutual value, not false promises. You’ll hear why: Retention may no longer be the best measure of success Growth and employability are becoming the real currency of work Organizations that embrace shorter tenures can actually create more value The future of work depends on honesty, not nostalgia This episode is a call for leaders to rethink what they’re really offering… and what employees are actually agreeing to. Because the problem isn’t that loyalty is gone. It’s that the contract behind it hasn’t caught up. And the organizations willing to rewrite that contract… are the ones that will win. Tune in for a candid, practical, and optimistic take on what comes next.

    8 min

  3. APR 9

    AI Didn't Fire You. Your Leaders Did

    Oracle cut 30,000 people last week. At 6 AM. Via email. No manager conversation. No handoff. Just: you're done, your access is revoked. Steve has been through dozens of staff reductions in his career — and this one hit differently. Not because of the number, but because of what the process communicated. In this episode, he breaks down why the Oracle move is a leadership failure dressed up as a technology decision, what every major tech shift has taught us about the human cost of "deploy first, figure people out later" — and why the organizations that will win with AI are asking a completely different question than everyone else. The research is clear. The logic is there. So why aren't more executive teams listening?

    7 min

  4. APR 3

    Augmentation Made the Jobs Better. So Why Are We Hiring Less?

    This week on Workquake Weekly, Steve unpacks new research from Harvard Business Review that brings real data to one of the biggest debates in the future of work… are jobs being replaced by AI, or reshaped by it? The answer is becoming clearer. Roles built around human and AI collaboration are growing fast, while purely automated roles are shrinking. But the real story isn’t job loss or job growth. It’s how the work itself is changing. Steve walks through what this shift looks like in practice, from financial analysts spending less time gathering data and more time making decisions, to organizations redefining what productivity and value actually mean. But there’s a tension emerging. As companies lean into augmentation, entry-level opportunities are quietly declining, especially in AI-exposed fields. Steve challenges this instinct and asks a bigger question. If AI is unlocking capacity across organizations, why are we using it to do less instead of more? This episode explores: Why augmentation is winning over automation, and what that really means for leaders How AI is reshaping the day-to-day reality of knowledge work The unintended consequences for early-career talent Why shrinking roles may be the wrong response to increased capacity A powerful example of how one company bridged the gap between experienced and junior workers Steve offers a grounded but optimistic perspective on what leaders can do next, and why this moment is less about efficiency and more about imagination. Because the real opportunity isn’t just improving what already exists. It’s building what comes next. Harvard Business School — "Displacement or Complementarity? The Labor Market Impact of Generative AI" — Suraj Srinivasan, Wilbur Xinyuan Chen, Saleh Zakerinia. Covered in Harvard Business Review, March 2026. https://hbr.org/2026/03/research-how-ai-is-changing-the-labor-marketFederal Reserve Bank of Dallas — "AI is simultaneously aiding and replacing workers, wage data suggest" — J. Scott Davis, February 2026. https://www.dallasfed.org/research/economics/2026/0224McKinsey & Company — "The State of AI in 2025: How Organizations Are Rewiring to Capture Value" — Alex Singla, Alexander Sukharevsky, Bryce Hall, Lareina Yee, Michael Chui, November 2025. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai

    5 min

  5. MAR 13

    Anthropic Knows AI Enriches Work — So Why Are They Only Measuring What It Destroys?

    Is AI destroying jobs, enriching them, or doing a bit of both? In this episode of Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan explores a new research tool released by AI company Anthropic designed to detect when AI is displacing workers across occupations. On the surface, it sounds like responsible foresight. But Steve asks a deeper question: if we’re building sophisticated systems to track job loss, why aren’t we building equally powerful tools to track job enrichment? Drawing on new surveys from Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, and others, Steve looks at the growing anxiety among Gen Z and Millennial workers who are trying to adapt quickly to AI while hearing mixed signals from the companies building it. At the same time, he highlights the massive investments companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Google are making in reskilling millions of workers around the world. This episode explores the real challenge leaders face today: not just managing disruption, but shaping a more balanced and hopeful narrative about how AI can expand human potential at work. Because the future of work isn’t something that just happens to us. It’s something we shape.

    8 min

  6. FEB 12

    Talent Velocity — Staying Calm in the AI Moment

    This week, Steve Cadigan tackles the emotional rollercoaster around AI, flipping the script from fear and FOMO to understanding and real confidence. You’ll learn: Why panic isn’t the answer—and what questions leaders should be asking instead How “talent velocity” (a concept highlighted in a recent LinkedIn report) puts learning security ahead of job security Why AI adoption isn’t a sprint but a human-centered learning cycle Practical examples from AT&T, Unilever, and Guild on building internal learning pathways and talent marketplaces Four focus areas for leaders: speeding up learning, safe experimentation, rewarding curiosity, and redesigning roles for ongoing development Tune in to replace anxiety with real confidence, and discover how to build organizations that move at the pace of human capability—not just the technology curve. https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/talent-velocity-report

    4 min

  7. FEB 5

    When Healthcare Costs More Than Your House

    This week, Steve digs into a startling The Wall Street Journal report revealing that, for many Americans, healthcare expenses are now outpacing mortgage payments. Drawing on his own experience as an independent business owner, he explores how soaring premiums and shrinking coverage have turned “healthcare plans” into little more than catastrophic safety nets, and what that means for families and employers alike. Steve breaks down why today’s healthcare system has become so entrenched—and so maddeningly hard to fix—touching on politics, economics, insurance, technology, and fear. He then connects the dots to the workplace, showing how healthcare costs distort career mobility, fuel job-lock, and even clash with the adaptability we tout in the age of AI. Tune in for practical steps leaders can take right now to acknowledge this pressure, rethink benefits conversations, and share risk more thoughtfully within their organizations. Key Takeaway: It’s time to stop treating healthcare as an afterthought. By facing these costs head-on, leaders can help unleash the very innovation and agility they expect from their teams. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow the podcast, and leave a review so you don’t miss future insights. And if you’ve read my book Workquake, I’d really appreciate you taking a minute to leave a review on Amazon—your support helps keep the conversation going. See you next Friday. https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/aca-health-insurance-cost-subsidies-expire-37a595a9?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcQ7hAaSlDjbCAqfsAQMOwm1hC6_7vzfnGefpGP4BIzLzcna72YedGU9kXGyCw%3D&gaa_ts=697a76f5&gaa_sig=wcby4hKof7dCDgOEZnZEaEP0NX8WO6sJ_c0ALGjs9IBt4--ExX_qSz1hGW4jjzh-AjFGTxjcNNA8GAjfDLTNOA%3D%3D

    5 min

  8. JAN 29

    The Seatbelt Moment: Social Media on Trial — and What AI Should Learn Now

    A landmark trial in Los Angeles is testing a hard question: did social media product design cause real harm, especially for younger users? This isn’t a hearing. It’s a courtroom, with jurors and evidence, focused less on content moderation and more on product architecture… infinite scroll, autoplay, notification loops, and the incentives behind them. Steve connects this “tobacco trial moment” to the future of work and AI, arguing that design choices are never neutral and that leadership, not just technology, must carry responsibility. If social media is our seatbelt moment, AI might be the self-driving car. What guardrails will we choose, and how fast will we put them in place? What You Will Learn Why this case centers on design decisions, not just user behavior How business models shape engagement and risk The seatbelt analogy and what it teaches about cultural change Practical questions leaders should ask before shipping new tech Why thoughtful beats fastest in the long run

    6 min
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5
out of 5
16 Ratings

About

Most leaders are asking the wrong question about AI. Workquake Weekly is where we find the right one. Each week, Steve Cadigan, LinkedIn's founding CHRO and author of Workquake, breaks down what's actually happening at the intersection of AI, talent, and organizational transformation. Not hype. Not fear. The patterns that separate companies building lasting competitive advantage from those chasing a mirage. Ten minutes. One insight. Every week. For more on Steve visit stevecadigan.com

Information

  • Creator
    Steve Cadigan
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Steve Cadigan
  • Show Website
    Workquake Weekly

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