Valerie Capers Workman
Chief Talent Engagement Officer
Handshake
Episode 195
Unlock Gen Z Talent: Your Survival Guide for the Retirement Cliff
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleMay 12, 2025 · 5:50
Thesis
“Employers must proactively adapt their talent strategies to attract and retain the incoming Gen Z workforce, focusing on employer branding, effective internships, modern onboarding, and AI skills, to survive the looming 'retirement cliff' and thrive in the future of work.”
Show notes
Gen Z will make up 30% of the workforce within five years. Simultaneously, baby boomers are reaching retirement age at a rate of 10,000 per day. Valerie Capers Workman calls it a "retirement cliff" — and most employers, she argues, are nowhere near ready for it.
Valerie came to Handshake from Tesla, where she was Chief Compliance Officer before making the jump to talent strategy. At Handshake — the platform that connects college students with employers — she sees both sides of the early talent gap: employers who haven't built a meaningful employer brand for Gen Z, and students who don't have the bridging experience (internships, structured onboarding, explicit cultural guidance) to make the transition from college to professional work feel coherent. Her position is direct: internships are no longer optional. A company that doesn't have a pipeline of early talent being actively developed is a company that will find itself short-staffed when the retirement wave hits.
Her parting advice is particularly timely: regardless of whether your organization has an official AI strategy, you need to be sourcing and hiring people with AI acumen now. The capability window is open. The companies that build AI-fluent teams early will have a structural advantage over those who wait for the strategy to be finalized before they start recruiting for it.
- The Gen Z workforce cliff — 30% of the workforce in 5 years, colliding with peak baby boomer retirement: the talent math that demands action now
- Employer branding for Gen Z — why your brand has to be purpose-forward and digitally native, not just a careers page refresh
- Internships as strategic infrastructure — why they've shifted from a "nice to have" to a prerequisite for filling your future leadership pipeline
- Onboarding for early talent — what Gen Z actually needs in their first 90 days (culture immersion, clear expectations, "a day in the life" context)
- Hiring for AI acumen before your strategy is ready — why the capability build starts with recruiting, not roadmapping
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What you'll take away
- 1Gen Z will constitute 30% of the workforce in 5 years, necessitating urgent, proactive early talent hiring strategies for employers.
- 2A strong employer brand, specifically crafted to resonate with Gen Z, is as crucial as the recruiting strategy itself for attracting future talent.
- 3Internship programs are no longer optional but are an imperative for successfully transitioning early talent into professional careers and mitigating the impact of the baby boomer 'retirement cliff'.
- 4Onboarding must evolve beyond administrative tasks to provide comprehensive insights into workplace culture, daily expectations, and 'a day in the life' for new hires, especially early talent.
- 5Regardless of a defined AI strategy, companies must actively source and hire talent with AI acumen and skills to prepare for future demands.
What most organizations get wrong
- •The guest highlights that some companies still do not grasp the critical importance of internship programs, viewing them as a 'nice to have' rather than an 'imperative' despite compelling workforce demographic shifts.
In Valerie's words
“I started out in compliance. So I was a compliance attorney for several years, ultimately becoming the chief compliance officer for Tesla. And then during that time, I was promoted, voluntold, volunteered to lead people.”
This quote highlights Valerie's unconventional and rapid career transition into HR leadership from a compliance background.
“The number one issue that is facing virtually every employer right now is the fact that Gen Z is going to make up 30% of the workforce in the next 5 years.”
This emphasizes the urgency and scale of the generational shift impacting talent strategies.
“having a talent brand that speaks to Gen Z so that Gen Z knows who they are and what they do and what's important and why they should want to come work for these companies is as important as a recruiting strategy.”
This stresses the critical, often overlooked, role of employer branding in attracting the younger workforce.
“an internship program is not a nice to have, it's an imperative.”
This concise statement asserts the non-negotiable importance of internships for future talent pipelines.
“Onboarding used to be, how do you get paid and how do you set up your 401(k) and how do you get benefits? But now it's become, What's it like to work here? What's a day in the life? What do we expect of you?”
This illustrates the necessary evolution of onboarding from administrative to experience-focused, especially for early talent.
“you have to acknowledge that you're going to need to hire talent that has AI acumen and AI skills.”
This provides forward-looking advice on integrating AI skills into current recruiting strategies, even without a fully formed AI strategy.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Employers face significant challenges in attracting and retaining Gen Z talent due to the demographic shift and 'retirement cliff' of baby boomers.
- •Companies struggle to develop an employer brand that effectively communicates with and appeals to Gen Z candidates.
- •Some organizations fail to recognize and implement robust internship programs, missing a crucial opportunity for early talent development and pipeline building.
- •Outdated onboarding processes inadequately prepare early talent for the realities of professional work, company culture, and daily expectations.
- •Organizations are grappling with how to integrate AI into their workforce and identify/hire individuals with necessary AI acumen and skills.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Your career journey is a bit different to HR
Top HR Executives on Their Career Paths
Handshake helps employers develop early talent hiring strategies for Gen Z
Talent Acquisition: The Need for Gen Z Talent
Valerie, what strategies have you seen work with employers helping Gen Z employees transition
How to Help Gen Z Employees Transition From College Into the Workplace
Valerie, thank you so much for joining us on Built by People podcast
Valerie on Built by People
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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