Talk2MeWrite · News analysis · Skills and the future of work
By Saleem Bradley · 3 minute read · Sources checked 9 October 2026, Perth
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If AI performs a task that once helped a junior colleague learn, the organisation has to decide where that learning will happen next. A June 2026 Deloitte Insights analysis examines the risk of weakening pathways from novice work to expertise. Deloitte’s Australian workforce survey adds a related question about whether teams believe they can maintain performance when expertise leaves.
The two publications address different evidence. Together, they help frame a distinction between completing a task and developing the judgement needed to assess it.
Example one The skills ladder
Deloitte’s US analysis maps more than 19,000 O*NET tasks to skills and discusses how automation may remove foundational practice. It proposes approaches including structured practice and simulations. Those proposals are not proof that an employer has already solved the learning problem.
For a hypothetical junior analyst, reviewing an AI-generated summary could become a learning activity if the reviewer compares it with the source, identifies missing qualifications and explains the correction. Simply approving the output provides less evidence that the underlying judgement has developed.
Example two Knowledge transfer in Australia
In the Australian survey, 58 per cent of Gen Z respondents and 71 per cent of millennials believe their team could maintain performance if a key expert left. These are respondents’ assessments, not a tested continuity outcome.
The management question is what those beliefs rest on. Documentation may capture instructions while leaving the reasoning behind exceptions with one person. A handover that includes decision examples can make that reasoning easier to examine.
Keep learning visible in the workflow
Employers could identify which tasks build essential judgement and which can be assisted without removing necessary practice. A mentor could review the reasoning as well as the finished product. Teams could also test whether another colleague can explain the decision without relying on the original expert.
These are practical proposals, not causal conclusions established by the publications. They need to be adapted to the work, the risks involved and the time available for supervision.
The case for efficiency is strongest when an organisation can show both a useful output and a sustainable way to develop the people who must assess it. Expertise remains a source of influence at work; its value increases when colleagues can understand and apply it, rather than merely depend on its holder.
Sources and context
- Deloitte Insights analysis of the skills ladder 30 June 2026
- Deloitte Australia Gen Z and Millennial Survey 2026
Related portfolio work: Power and Influence in Organisational Decisions, an academic group project in progress based on a fictional teaching case. Explore Talk2MeWrite · Editorial standards.
Prepared with AI-assisted editing and source checking. This article analyses the linked publications and does not claim original interviews or field reporting.
Source: Talk2MeWrite · By Saleem Bradley · Original on SaleemBradley.com · Reference: T2MW-WP-439
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