With entry-level corporate jobs drying up, Gen Z is being pushed toward a “specialist or general-purpose” fork as AI infrastructure expands demand for highly specific capabilities. The article points to Lightcast projections and Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce estimates that the economy will need millions more postsecondary-trained workers, while hundreds of occupations face shortages. It argues AI also makes entrepreneurship easier for small teams and solopreneurs, while simultaneously intensifying skills mismatches. Economist Ed Yardeni links the job openings surge to specialized AI adoption needs, noting that openings increasingly require explicit AI fluency. The result is a narrower path from education to employment: openings may grow, but talent bottlenecks can leave many candidates underqualified for roles that are tightly defined by AI-driven workflows and infrastructure requirements.