Generation Z is entering the workforce at a moment of significant disruption, with AI poised to reshape entire industries before many new graduates have found their footing, The Wall Street Journal reported May 27.
LinkedIn predicts today’s workforce entrants will hold twice as many jobs throughout their careers as those who entered 15 years ago — a shift driven partly by longer careers, but also by a labor market in flux.
One result: More Americans are working jobs unrelated to their undergraduate major. The Journal calls them “career chameleons,” and healthcare is not excluded.
Sarah Iselin, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, studied photography and art history at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before earning a graduate degree in health policy and management. She told the Journal that an art background trained her to see and communicate clearly — skills that have served her well in healthcare leadership.
Ms. Iselin is not an outlier. Eric Clay, chief security officer at Baton Rouge, La.-based FMOL Health, came to healthcare after security leadership roles at Disney. Joe Gage, chief administrative officer at Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health, brings experience from Delta Air Lines, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Levi Strauss. The through line is transferable leadership.
That pipeline is widening. As AI stokes layoff anxiety across tech, finance and education, healthcare has emerged as a landing spot, particularly for new graduates navigating a tough job market. The sector continues to drive U.S. job growth in 2026, and health system leaders say they are already seeing the shift in their applicant pools, including Teri Manno, vice president and head of career services at New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health.
“For example, many more ‘traditional educational’ roles (teachers, principals, nursery school teachers) are seeking roles within the healthcare environment,” Ms. Manno told Becker’s in April. “It aligns with their sense of purpose and making a difference in others’ lives, and also provides a better future for growth and professional fulfillment.”
Among recent graduates ages 22 to 27, about 42% hold jobs that do not require a degree, up from 38% in early 2023, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Health systems including Northwell are actively working to meet that reality, communicating that many healthcare roles — lab technicians, administrative assistants and others — require only a high school diploma or certification.
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