Last month, I was with a hiring manager who pulled out her phone to Google the company. “Let me see what candidates find when they look us up,” she said.
I stopped her. “That’s not what they’re doing anymore.”
The candidate she was trying to understand hadn’t visited Glassdoor or scrolled through the careers page. She’d asked ChatGPT what it’s like to work there. The AI pieced together an answer from old Reddit threads and scattered articles. That became her version of truth. The hiring manager had no idea this conversation had even happened.
This is recruiting Generation Alpha.
They’re Not Looking for Jobs. They’re Building Portfolios
The oldest members of Generation Alpha turn 15 this year. By 2028, they’ll be entering the workforce. Some will intern in two years.
Here’s what you need to know: 76% of Gen Alpha kids want to be their own boss or run a side hustle, according to Visa research. Compare that to the current workforce, where only 13% are self-employed. This isn’t youthful ambition that’ll fade—it’s how they fundamentally see work.
They’re not building careers. They’re building portfolios.
What does this mean for your open role? It’s not their endgame. It’s one piece of their work life. They’ll evaluate your opportunity by what it adds to their portfolio and how it fits with everything else they’re juggling. You’re not going to keep them for a decade. The real question is whether you can keep them engaged for two or three years.
They watched their parents get laid off over Zoom. They saw older siblings balance multiple income streams. The lesson stuck: depending on one employer, one paycheck, one professional identity? That’s the actual risk.
Your Employer Brand? AI Is Already Defining It
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: you’re managing your brand in the wrong places.
Generation Alpha doesn’t Google. They ask AI. They’re using ChatGPT and Claude for career advice. Right now, while you’re polishing LinkedIn posts and producing culture videos, AI is telling stories about your company—stories you’ve never approved or even seen.
Your employer brand messaging? Your culture statements? Your DEI commitments? None of it matters if an AI chatbot tells a prospective candidate you’re bureaucratic, traditional, or plagued by high turnover based on scattered internet mentions.
I’ve watched this cost companies good candidates. One client lost someone because an AI cited a three-year-old Reddit complaint about work-life balance. It was out of context. It didn’t reflect reality anymore. But the candidate believed it anyway.
The fix starts with knowing what AI says about you. Have you checked? Are you creating enough substantive content that these systems have accurate information to work with? Your digital footprint carries more weight than most companies realize.
Most Will Work in Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet
About 65% of Generation Alpha will work in jobs that don’t exist today, according to estimates from the World Economic Forum.
I know—every generation hears some version of this. But look at the past three years alone. Prompt engineer wasn’t a job in 2021. Neither was AI ethics consultant. The pace isn’t slowing.
How do you hire for jobs you can’t name? You stop hiring for specific experience. You hire for adaptability. You look for people who learn quickly, handle ambiguity well, and figure things out without a template.
Generation Alpha has been doing this their entire lives. They taught themselves skills on YouTube. They built businesses on platforms that didn’t exist five years ago. Constant change is their baseline expectation.
The companies that succeed will create roles with room to evolve. They’ll say, “we’re not entirely sure what this looks like in two years, and that’s exactly why we need you.”
This Isn’t Just Gen Z 2.0
Look, I understand the skepticism. We’ve heard similar predictions with Millennials and Gen Z.
Gen Z cares about purpose. Gen Alpha will too, but they’ll expect it as table stakes, not a differentiator. Gen Z grew up with smartphones. Gen Alpha has never known life without them—or without AI.
The difference isn’t what they want. It’s their expectations about how work fits into life, how quickly companies should adapt, and what information they can instantly access.
Yes, every generation gets positioned as the biggest shift or most connected. Some of that is hype. But Generation Alpha is projected to reach 2 billion people globally. And they’re entering a labor market where workers increasingly have leverage over employers.
You Have Three Years
Three years until Generation Alpha shows up. Three years to understand how they think and what they value. Three years to build a brand that works in the places they actually look. Three years to rethink your roles and career paths.
Or you can wait and figure it out after everyone else already has.
I’ve been in this field for two decades. The companies that win talent wars are never the ones playing catch-up. They’re the ones who moved early.
Generation Alpha is coming. The question is whether you’ll be ready.
