Cali Yost, Executive Director Flex + Strategy Group produced these compelling remarks to the 2025 CNBC Workforce Executive Council Summit convened in New York. She went on to underscore the urgent challenges that are surging across the workforce right now. As a recognized expert on the future of work, Yost outlined the necessity for companies to develop a comprehensive roadmap to navigate the evolving landscape of employment.
Yost specifically highlighted the increasing workforce diversity. He sounded a note of caution saying that a shortage of workers looms for the next decades. According to her calculations, about six million of them will be exiting the workforce over the next five to seven years. This dramatic shift is primarily due to a retirement tsunami impacting primarily Generation X workers. This has created additional challenges for talent—especially for employers faced with the prospect of a shrinking workforce.
“That’s the talent reality that you’re facing in the next five to seven years,” Yost stated, underscoring the urgency for businesses to adapt their strategies.
According to Yost, part of the picture is that the dynamics of job creation are changing as well. For one, she contends that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to a net increase in jobs. But as companies adopt AI most aggressively in their operations, they will at the same time contend with an increasing demand for skilled workers. This dual trend makes clear that there’s an urgent need for strategic workforce planning.
“Right now, we’re not really creating the environments that would make us the employers of choice,” she noted, indicating a disconnect between current workplace offerings and employee expectations. Yost challenged nonprofits and other organizations to rethink their compensation structures. He stressed the importance of forging incentives that appeal to both established experts and the new generations joining the workforce.
Despite these optimistic projections regarding AI, recent data from The Carlyle investment firm revealed a stark reality: job growth for the month stood at just 17,000, while ADP indicated a loss of 32,000 jobs within the private sector. Additionally, the ongoing government shutdown has hampered the release of vital information from the Labor Department, leaving many in uncertainty regarding employment trends.
In August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported job openings. Today’s recent college graduates are increasingly challenged to find dream jobs. With the job market cooling, their search just got even harder. Especially with an ongoing talent crisis, this reality heightens the urgency for employers to reconceptualize their talent acquisition strategies and employee experience.
Yost emphasized that organizations must strive to become employers of choice to attract not only experienced workers but younger generations who have heightened expectations regarding technology integration and workplace flexibility. “We need to be the employer of choice that will attract and retain those Gen X and boomers that have the domain expertise, as well as the younger people who are coming in with this expectation of technology but flexibility,” she said.
The hearing’s lone expert warned against trying to go back to policies of the past that might not be fit for their purpose anymore. “I think you will regret it if you keep trying to go back to something through policies and mandates that really aren’t working,” Yost warned, advocating for innovative approaches to workforce management.