July 24, 2026

The other day I went to a spur of the moment wheel throwing pottery class. It was a nice break from the good ole laptop. My hands enjoyed doing something slowly and intentionally. It was a spacious afternoon and it got me to thinking. Teenage unemployment has climbed to its highest level since the pandemic (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026). Entry-level white-collar jobs are increasingly being automated (Brynjolfsson et al., 2026). So, just like everyone else, I've been thinking about what this means for the future. Broadly, I'm hypothesizing we will enter an era of industrialization and "Made in the USA" manufacturing. This wave will skyrocket trades, craftsmanship, and farming. I am beginning to imagine a future where corporate office buildings and WeWorks are reconfigured into new age factory spaces while still finding a way to have kombucha on tap. "What about the kids?" The theory I keep circling back to is that this next generation of workers will become something of a New Age Boomer. Where college is an option but less of a necessity for a successful career. Where hands-on factory jobs are the norm. A generation where there's more tinkering. More mechanics. Less digitalization because the online world "isn't new."