[20 JUL] PAPER CUT: Work Is Having an Identity Crisis

AI is axing entry-level jobs while bosses preach well-being they won’t promote. Meanwhile, return-to-office edicts keep mutating and Gen Z is staring everyone down. Here’s the week, minus the corporate cosplay.

By EBN 7 min read
Person in straw hat and pink polo holds two tablets framing clouds; a laptop echoes the view, replacing their face with sky to show how screens blur personal identity.
Work’s identity crisis in frame.

The future of work used to be a PowerPoint fantasy. This week it’s painfully literal: AI layoffs are hitting mid-project, HR admits it can’t operate the very tech it’s rolling out, and Starbucks just rewrote “flexibility” as four days chained to headquarters. Employees are nervous; leaders are performative.

Across four fault lines: automation, office mandates, culture credibility and leadership theatrics, we distill the headlines into what they really mean for employer brand and talent strategy.

Brace yourself: the gap between talk and walk is widening.

This Week’s Paper Cut's

Paper Cut

EBN