One expert put it bluntly when he told jobseekers that, in 2026, “the days of going to college and doing something in an office are over.”
The gut-wrenchingly candid statement came from Sander van’t Noordende, who helms Randstad, the global HR firm with nearly 5,000 offices across 39 countries. The CEO appeared on an episode of CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe on May 20 to talk about the state of the career landscape, with mass layoffs, untenably high youth unemployment rates and the new no hire, more fire norm stoking justified alarm, especially among recent grads.
The pillar of the recruitment realm warned current students that they’ve “got to be smarter” in this new era, recommending that instead of pursuing the traditional four-year-degree-to-desk-job track, they instead focus on the tech sector or the skilled trades — where six-figure salaries are increasingly common — if they really want “a good career and good money.”
“I think any kind of technology is still a good career trajectory, and the skilled trades are coming up rapidly,” Noordende said, reassuring hopefuls that there are still opportunities for “knowledge workers.”
But, it’s those who know how to properly apply AI to complement their skills that he believes will see the most success.
AI proficiency vastly improves career prospects
According to Randstad’s own report about the age of AI augmentation in the workplace, released on May 19, the first quarter of 2026 saw a 300% rise in AI-related job postings and a 281% jump in demand for AI trainers worldwide.
In addition, professionals considered “fluent” in AI tend to be promoted approximately 3.5 times faster than their non-AI native counterparts, and earn about 25% more to start. Salaries grow to 40% more for those who possess in-demand AI certifications.
“Things are going faster than we thought they would,” Noordende said of AI’s transformation of corporate work, referencing London-based bank Standard Chartered’s move to automate some 7,800 roles — held by what its leader now-notoriously deemed “lower value human capital” — as just one example. He also touched on the fact that the top four multi-national accounting firms are currently hiring more AI specialists than auditors, signifying a monumental pivot.
“An AI specificalist knows about AI, but also how to apply AI to their fields, whether they’re a lawyer, in finance or a software engineer,” he explained.
