AI Didn't Fire You. Your Leaders Did

The 56% Question: Build It or Buy It?

A new PwC analysis of nearly a billion job postings found something hard to ignore: when a role asks for AI skills, it pays about 56% more than the identical role that doesn't — and that premium has doubled in a single year, up from 25%. In this episode of Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan unpacks what that number actually means (and what gets misread about it), why the AI skills shortage is real, and the three paths companies take when they feel the pressure to "do something" about AI: tell people to figure it out, train and develop their own, or hire AI talent while quietly shrinking everyone else. Backed by the data — Gloat's 144% jump in AI postings, roughly three open AI roles for every qualified person, and ManpowerGroup finding 72% of employers across 41 countries can't find the skills they need — Steve makes the case that the durable answer isn't a skill at all. It's a talent strategy built on constant learning. The takeaway, straight from the Workquake thesis: AI capacity can be bought. Human capacity has to be built. Only one of those compounds. If this got you thinking, share it with a colleague — especially the one rewriting their workforce plan right now — and find Steve on LinkedIn to tell him what you're seeing out there.

The Mega Manager Problem: What happens when you cut the connective tissue of work

The Megamanager Era: What Happens When We Stretch Managers Too Thin The average U.S. manager now has 12.1 direct reports — up nearly 50% in just twelve years. Meta is running new teams at 50-to-1. Nvidia's Jensen Huang famously keeps 60 people reporting directly to him. The "flatter is better" playbook is rolling downhill from CEOs to first-line managers, and in this episode of Workquake Weekly, Steve Cadigan unpacks what that's actually costing us. Drawing on his nearly four decades in HR — including building LinkedIn's people function during its hypergrowth years — Steve makes the case that the first-line manager isn't overhead. It's infrastructure. They're the layer that catches the quiet drowner on a Tuesday, invests real time in a new hire, and has the hard performance conversation while there's still time to help. That's the connective tissue of an organization. And it's the first thing that disappears when you double a manager's span. The data backs him up. Gallup reports manager engagement fell nine points between 2022 and 2025, and for the first time in decades of tracking, managers no longer hold an engagement edge over the people they lead. Korn Ferry found 41% of companies thinned management layers in 2025 alone. The Optimism Company found 75% of managers report extreme burnout, with more than one in four planning to leave within the year. Gartner found 69% of HR leaders say their managers don't have the skills to lead through change — and that's before full AI integration even lands. Steve also pushes back on the AI assumption driving much of the flattening: yes, AI absorbs coordination work, but it doesn't absorb relational work — the judgment, trust, and read on a person that only builds over time. That still takes a human with room to do it. And at the exact moment we're doubling managers' spans, leadership development investment is at an all-time low. In this episode: * Why the "megamanager" trend is being copied from CEOs down to first-line managers — and why that's a category error * The Gallup, Korn Ferry, Gartner, and Optimism Company data showing the layer that does the human work is breaking * What "connective tissue" really means, and why it never shows up as a problem until it's already gone * The three questions every leader should ask before flattening their org chart again * Why the companies that compound through this decade won't be the ones with the flattest structure — they'll be the ones who protected and prepared the people doing the work that has no calendar invite If you're a CHRO, people leader, founder, or first-line manager navigating restructuring, AI-driven cost pressure, or expanding spans of control, this episode is for you. Connect with Steve: Find Steve Cadigan on LinkedIn — he reads everything. Enjoyed the episode? Rate Workquake Weekly on your podcast platform of choice and share it with a colleague — especially the leader who just flattened their org. #FutureOfWork #Leadership #Management #HR #EmployeeEngagement #WorkplaceCulture #AIatWork #Workquake

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.

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.

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?