New research finds Gen Z and Millennials are getting better at performing individually and weaker at leading others. 

A new study suggests the AI era may be ill-equipping younger generations for the leadership roles they’d otherwise grow into. Cangrade’s Workforce Capability Index, which analyzes 71,747 behavioral job assessments, finds that individual performance skills are rising while the skills needed to lead people are falling. The gap raises questions about how organizations will identify and develop their next generation of managers. 

Eight of the nine leadership and teamwork competencies Cangrade tracks declined year over year, led by the skill of fostering teamwork (-0.65%), a skill that still ranks above average overall. Results orientation as a skill, by contrast, posted the largest competency gain (+1.11%). Cangrade says that the pattern is a warning for organizations that promote based on individual performance alone, since strong results do not reliably translate into delegating, coaching, or building consensus. 

Thinking skills are apparently slipping, too. Critical thinking, innovation, creative problem solving, and analytical reasoning all declined, even as AI takes on more routine work and raises the value of human judgment.  

Cangrade says that the data cannot show AI adoption is the cause, as correlation does not equal causation, but the timing correlation is worth paying attention to. 

The findings also challenge assumptions about younger workers’ appetite for change. Novelty ranked last among 16 workplace motivators and fell another 1.60%, while structure, the preference for defined processes and predictable environments, rose 0.60%.  

Cangrade suggests that job postings promising a “fast-paced” environment may be a poor draw for workers who increasingly want stability. 

Cangrade’s research also found:  

• integrity had the largest year-over-year decline of all 40 competencies measured (-0.87%); 

• compensation was the fastest-rising motivator (+2.26%), though it still ranks 15th of 16; 

• appreciation fell 0.73%, the second-steepest drop among motivators; and 

• competition rose 1.35%, but only about 5% of workers list it as their top driver. 

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