• LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman says what young people learn in college isn’t the most important thing in landing a job. Being able to leverage AI tools, tackle new labor market challenges, and leverage connections is more essential for Gen Z seeking employment—and his advice echoes that of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. 

The stable career path of going to college and landing a cushy six-figure office role is being disrupted by AI. Now, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman admits to rising college graduates that it may not even matter whether you majored in computer science or art history—connections and flexibility are the new hot commodities.  

“What you should take forward from your college degree isn’t necessarily the thing you learned in X-101,” Hoffman said in a recent video on his YouTube channel. “It isn’t specific degrees, specific courses, [or] even necessarily specific skills that are relevant to you.”

Rather, the tech entrepreneur believes that being nimble in today’s job market is a massive asset: “It’s your capacity to say, ‘Hey, here is the new tool set, here’s the new challenge.’ That is actually what the future work’s going to look like. One thing is to not focus on the degree, but to focus on how you learn and to be continually learning,” Hoffman said. 

“The other part of college that’s super important, that you should not forget, is that life is a team sport, not just an individual sport,” he continued. “You can help each other.”

Young job-seekers who effectively navigate the new world of work—by leveraging connections, constantly learning, and mastering AI—will have the upper hand, Hoffman concluded. And unfortunately for those saddled with debt, getting a college degree isn’t the only way to develop these traits.

The one skill that Gen Z should have that’s ‘enormously attractive’

There’s no question that many Gen Zers have already had a rough start in their careers—graduating into a post-COVID way of work, with AI agents being positioned as their new coworkers. Some employers have even branded the generation as lazy and unorganized, but Hoffman thinks Gen Z has one advantage that hiring managers go crazy for.

The LinkedIn cofounder said young people are part of “generation AI”: As digital natives who grew up with advanced technology at their fingertips, they are in the best position to leverage that skill. It may be Gen Z’s ticket to landing a job. 

“Bringing the fact that you have AI in your tool set is one of the things that makes you enormously attractive,” the 57-year-old billionaire said. 

It’s why, despite all the noise around AI threatening to steal entry-level roles, the technology may be Gen Z’s best weapon to find work. In the past month, both OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and LinkedIn chief economic opportunity officer Aneesh Raman have waved the warning flag that AI could rival junior employees. 

Hoffman agreed that AI may make the job search worse for young people—but recommended that Gen Z job searchers use the technology to create their own opportunities. 

“AI is changing the [job] landscape, [and] may make entry-level jobs harder to get, may make employers uncertain about who they’re looking for and employing,” Hoffman continued. “Then you say, ‘Well, okay, how do I use the current circumstances, the disruption, to make this better? How do I use AI to identify what possible new opportunities might be?’”

How Gen Z can climb a career ladder with broken rungs

Gen Z grew up thinking that doing well in college will score you a high-paying role after graduation—but that career trajectory is no longer a promise. Even Dario Amodei, CEO of AI company Anthropic, predicted that AI could eliminate roughly 50% of all entry-level white-collar jobs in the coming years.

Instead of burying their heads in the sand, young people can redirect their strategy to be a hot hiring commodity, leaders say. 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been particularly outspoken on the issue; he’s a huge proponent of the idea that being an AI user is a protective quality in job market disruption.

“Every job will be affected, and immediately. It is unquestionable,” Huang said at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in May. “You’re not going to lose your job to an AI, but you’re going to lose your job to someone who uses AI.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market tumbled on Friday morning after Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iran, marking a major escalation in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. 

Bitcoin is down 2% in the last 24 hours, according to Binance, falling from $107,000 to a low of $103,000 before rebounding slightly. The total market cap of the crypto market is down 3%, with Ethereum and Solana down 7% and Dogecoin down 6%. 

The threat of war between Israel and Iran has triggered investors to flee cryptocurrencies because they are volatile and considered risky assets in times of uncertainty. The conflict between the two countries has also raised concerns that Iran may retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and facilitates the shipment of 20% of global oil shipments, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

Nic Puckrin, founder of crypto education platform Coin Bureau, said that if that happens, the price of oil will surge and investors will flee risky assets, like crypto, to protect the value of their assets. “Oil will see a massive spike, and risk assets will fall off a cliff,” he says. 

Israel’s strike on Iran targeted the country’s nuclear sites, missile facilities, and aerial defenses, and killed top Iranian officials and nuclear scientists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes are an attempt to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and what he called an existential threat to Israel in a video statement on Friday. 

“This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” he said.

Israel’s strikes came after the International Atomic Energy Agency, an organization within the United Nations that focuses on nuclear technology, said on Thursday that Iran was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, according to the New York Times. 

President Donald Trump came out in support of the strikes on Friday, saying in a post on Truth Social that the attacks will get “even more brutal” if Iran does not agree to a deal regarding its nuclear weapons program. “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left,” the president wrote. 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has promised to retaliate against Israel, writing in a post on X that the nation “should anticipate a harsh punishment.” 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Workplace wellness—the trend of companies trying to offset job stress with benefits like time off for volunteering, discounted gym memberships, and free therapy—is a buzzy concept that some employers are taking to heart more than others. 

Deloitte is apparently leaning in hard, according to Business Insider, which found that it has updated its list of subsidized items—already including fitness classes and gaming consoles—to include, among other perks, Legos.

The $1,000 subsidy toward “Legos and puzzles” is meant to “empower and support your journey toward thriving mentally, physically, and financially and living your purpose,” say policy documents, according to BI.

Also included in the list of approved items for subsidy, as of June 1, are kitchen appliances like blenders and refrigerators, spa services, personal portable cooling fans, and ergonomic or cooling pillows.

“Most of the responses are things like ‘Lego?!?!? Finally!’ or jokes about how they can now rationalize buying the coveted Millennium Falcon Star Wars Lego set,” one employee told BI, referring to Lego’s most expensive set yet, costing $850 with over 7,500 pieces.

Perhaps Deloitte, one of the world’s Big Four consulting firms along with along with EY, PwC, and KPMG, wants to avoid any misunderstanding among its employees about its desire to support wellness: According to its own 2024 Workplace Well-being report findings, 82% of company executives globally believe their company is advancing human sustainability in general—but only 56% of workers agree.

Further, around 90% of executives believe working for their company has a positive effect on worker well-being, skills development, career advancement, inclusion and belonging, and their sense of purpose and meaning—but only 60% of workers agree.

Deloitte appears determined to go the extra mile—with Legos— to make sure its leaders and workers are in sync. As one X commenter noted: “Building wellness one brick at a time. Honestly, not a bad way to de-stress.”

More on workplace wellness:

• Want to boost employee morale and productivity? Ramp up volunteering
• Workplace well-being is at an all-time low. Here are 5 ways employers can actually help
• 90% of C-suite executives believe their company promotes worker well-being. Why do only 60% of workers agree?

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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