What’s Next at Work? Much Change, and Likely Some Pain for Employees
At the Journal’s Future of Everything Festival, many predicted work could shift, jobs will vanish and some employees might be displaced; ‘there’s going to be disruption’
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Workers, brace yourselves.
The rise of artificial intelligence and other new technology may mean plenty of roles and professions shift in the coming years, displacing some employees and requiring far different skills and training, according to executives in a range of industries.
In sessions at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival this week, some leaders gave blunt assessments of the coming transition and said current employees may not be able to adapt.
“This is the hard part: I’m not sure we can upskill everyone. I don’t think they’re going to make it. It’ll take too long,” said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor, in an onstage interview on Wednesday. “There’s going to be a big shift in know-how in the company.”
At Ford, the automaker will still need traditional roles such as powertrain engineers and supply-chain specialists to help it manufacture vehicles, but it will also require employees with more digital expertise, Mr. Farley said. The company has been recruiting more technical employees, and its office in Silicon Valley is now full of such workers, he said.
“There’s a new skill set we’re going to need, and I don’t think I can teach everyone,” he said. “It’ll take too much time. So there’s going to be disruption.”
For years, workplace specialists predicted that technology would upend work, often warning that blue-collar jobs could be most affected by automation. More recently, though, many leaders see AI as having a far greater potential impact on corporate employees than hourly workers.
At the hotel giant Hilton, CEO Chris Nassetta said he could see AI being used in marketing, revenue management, customer insights and finance functions in the company.
Many executives said they were still unclear about AI’s role inside companies, and some expressed optimism about how the technology could free workers from drudgery.
“AI is going to take away a lot of mundane tasks from people and hopefully free people up to spend more time creatively, spend more time with the people they want to spend time with,” said Marissa Mayer, the former Yahoo CEO. She is now the CEO and co-founder of the startup Sunshine, whose product helps people to better manage their digital contacts.
Others said AI potentially could help with tasks such as summarising messages from colleagues, freeing employees from reading hundreds of emails and other communication.
“When there is so much happening in organisations, AI can also help you focus,” said Lidiane Jones, CEO of the messaging platform Slack. “So out of my 5,000 pings, what are the things that I should really prioritise?”
Labor leaders said they, too, were eyeing AI’s influence on the workplace. Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, said she hopes any sort of efficiency benefits achieved through AI would be shared with workers.
“Workers really need to be at the table to make sure that these are going to be technologies that are going to work for us, and give us more tools to do our job,” she said. “So we do want to implement these things in a way where, No. 1, we are sharing the benefits of that productivity, and that’s going into everyone’s pockets who’s a part of that company.”
Beyond technology, executives said they were seeing other changes in the job market. It is now easier to hire cooks, housekeepers and other hotel employees than it was earlier in the pandemic, Hilton’s Mr. Nassetta said, though he added that the hospitality industry is still dealing with some labor shortages. He also called for changes to immigration policies to enable more workers to come to the U.S.
“There just aren’t enough people in our country in terms of service-level jobs to do the things that we need to do,” he said. “If we don’t think about immigration really sensibly, we’re eventually going to stunt the growth of our economy.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his administration was considering flexible hours and other benefits to get more people to take jobs with the city. Mayor Adams also said he was concerned by layoffs among financial companies in New York.
“It’s crucial that we stabilise Wall Street,” he said. “Wall Street is so important to the economic stability of the city.”
Throughout the event, a number of speakers also sprinkled their remarks with guidance for professionals looking to navigate the challenges of careers. Fashion designer Michael Kors said he made the biggest mistakes in his career when he became too focused on others.
“You cannot constantly be looking at everyone else. You can’t look over your shoulder. You have to do what’s right for you,” Mr. Kors said. “Listen to your gut. Move slowly. Stay focused.”
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A record-breaking $11 million sale at The Centennial Collection has set a new benchmark for luxury apartment living in Bondi Junction.
As interest rates, inflation and market sentiment fluctuate, investors are being urged to focus on data, not panic.
The Federal Budget may have softened some of its proposed tax reforms, but it has exposed a bigger issue: too many families are relying on wealth structures that no longer reflect the realities of modern life.
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For many Australians, the 2026 Federal Budget initially felt like a direct challenge to the way wealth is created, held and transferred between generations.
The headlines were immediate: changes to capital gains tax, reforms to discretionary trusts, restrictions on negative gearing and increased scrutiny of investment structures. Unsurprisingly, affluent families, business owners and investors began asking the same question:
Is the way we hold our wealth still fit for purpose?
In recent days, the government has announced several significant amendments following industry consultation and public feedback, including exempting testamentary trusts from the proposed 30 per cent minimum tax and expanding capital gains tax concessions for small businesses.
The backdown is welcome. But it also highlights something much bigger.
This Budget has accelerated a conversation that many Australian families have been postponing for years.
The conversation is not really about tax. It is about wealth stewardship.
For decades, Australians have built wealth through businesses, property, investments and careful long-term planning. Yet many families have not revisited the legal structures surrounding those assets in years, sometimes decades.
We often see clients who have spent years building significant wealth, only to discover their legal arrangements no longer reflect their current circumstances.
Their children are now adults. They may own multiple properties.
They may have sold a business, entered a second marriage, become grandparents or accumulated digital assets that did not exist when their original estate plans were prepared.
The trust that distributes income may need to be reconsidered. The bucket company may no longer be so attractive.
The Budget has simply exposed a reality that already existed: wealth structures cannot remain static while life continues to evolve.
Importantly, trusts themselves are not the issue.
Trusts are legitimate planning tools that provide flexibility, protection and continuity. When used appropriately, they allow families to adapt to changing circumstances over time.
And neither is tax the issue, really. Getting the fundamentals right is more important for long-term, sustainable wealth than a few favourable tax treatments around the edges.
The real issue is complacency.
Too often, families create structures and assume the job is done. It isn’t.
Estate planning is no longer a document you sign once and file away in a drawer. It is an ongoing process that should evolve alongside your life.
We are also seeing a broader shift in how Australians define wealth itself. It is no longer just the family home and an investment portfolio.
Modern wealth includes businesses, digital assets, cryptocurrency, intellectual property, frequent flyer points and increasingly complex family arrangements.
At the same time, Australians are living longer than ever before, meaning wealth may need to support multiple generations simultaneously. This creates new responsibilities and new risks.
How do you help your children enter the property market without exposing family wealth to relationship breakdowns?
How do you structure wealth so that it remains a source of opportunity rather than future conflict?
These are the questions families should be asking now.
The recent debate surrounding testamentary trusts also serves as an important reminder that policy decisions can have unintended consequences for vulnerable Australians. It is encouraging that the government has listened to feedback and clarified its position.
But the lesson remains: the wealth landscape is changing.
Increasingly, governments, regulators and tax authorities are paying closer attention to how wealth is held and transferred. That means families cannot afford to adopt a “set-and-forget” approach to their structures.
The families who will be best placed for the future are not necessarily those with the greatest wealth.
They are the families with the greatest clarity. Clarity around ownership, succession and governance. And clarity around how wealth will transition from one generation to the next.
Ultimately, preserving wealth is not about avoiding change.
It is about preparing for it.
Because the greatest risk is not change itself.
It is losing the ability to respond to it.
Anthony Hunt is Co-Founder of Wealth Lawyers and former COO of Westpac Private Bank. He advises business owners, investors and affluent Australian families on wealth protection, succession planning and intergenerational wealth transfer
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