Paul Welty, PhD AI, WORK, AND STAYING HUMAN

Gen Z's job-hopping: smart strategy for growth

Gen Z’s job-hopping isn’t reckless. It’s a calculated strategy. This article argues they’re not being disloyal but rational, and I concur. In a world where skills quickly become obsolete, Gen Z’s relentless pursuit of growth and development is not only wise but necessary. Their willingness to switch roles for better learning opportunities highlights a shift from static loyalty to dynamic career building. As employers, we must ask: Are we offering environments that nurture continuous growth? If not, we’re missing the point. It’s time to adapt and invest in the human potential that defines this generation.

The rise of growth hunting: Why Gen Z changes jobs so often


Featured writing

Why customer tools are organized wrong

This article reveals a fundamental flaw in how customer support tools are designed—organizing by interaction type instead of by customer—and explains why this fragmentation wastes time and obscures the full picture you need to help users effectively.

Infrastructure shapes thought

The tools you build determine what kinds of thinking become possible. On infrastructure, friction, and building deliberately for thought rather than just throughput.

Server-Side Dashboard Architecture: Why Moving Data Fetching Off the Browser Changes Everything

How choosing server-side rendering solved security, CORS, and credential management problems I didn't know I had.

Books

The Work of Being (in progress)

A book on AI, judgment, and staying human at work.

The Practice of Work (in progress)

Practical essays on how work actually gets done.

Recent writing

We always panic about new tools (and we're always wrong)

Every time a new tool emerges for making or manipulating symbols, we panic. The pattern is so consistent it's almost embarrassing. Here's what happened each time.

Dev reflection - February 03, 2026

I've been thinking about constraints today. Not the kind that block you—the kind that clarify. There's a difference, and most people miss it.

When execution becomes cheap, ideas become expensive

This article reveals a fundamental shift in how organizations operate: as AI makes execution nearly instantaneous, the bottleneck has moved from implementation to decision-making. Understanding this transition is critical for anyone leading teams or making strategic choices in an AI-enabled world.

Notes and related thinking

Bookmark: The Next Wave of Automation: Will AI Disrupt More High-Skill Jobs?

Explore how AI is reshaping high-skill jobs, driving the need for new skills and offering opportunities in a rapidly evolving job market.

Bookmark: A psychologist explains what Gen Z should be striving for at work (hint: not happiness)

Gen Z should prioritize workplace engagement over fleeting happiness to achieve lasting career fulfillment and drive organizational success.

Bookmark: Nearly all bosses are ‘accidental’ with no formal training—and research shows it’s leading 1 in 3 workers to quit

Untrained managers drive one in three employees to quit. Discover how effective leadership training can boost retention and workplace satisfaction.