Strong April jobs report masks a looming workforce crisis

“Getting ahead of the pack and looking to increase hiring now can definitely put employers in a better position, instead of scrambling when all of a sudden there’s this massive gap in available workers, and employers are all trying to navigate that at the same time,” she said.

Phased retirements, mentoring programs, and proactive succession pipelines were among the strategies she pointed to as ways organizations can begin managing the risk of an aging workforce now, rather than in a crisis.

AI is reshaping jobs, not just eliminating them

Both economists addressed artificial intelligence, though neither framed it as a simple story of job destruction. Barnes noted that demand for AI-related skills, particularly in agentic processes and orchestration, is rising sharply across finance, legal, and STEM fields. But he also acknowledged that the technology is giving many businesses reason to pause on broader hiring decisions as they recalibrate their workforce strategies. His counsel to companies in that position is to use the pause productively.

“I think it is a good time to focus internally,” he said. “Unless your data processes, your workforce plan, and all of these things are really tied up, then you are not going to be ready to jump in and kind of hit that acceleration button when the time comes.”

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