The Missing Rung: How Do New People Learn the Work Now?

For generations, people learned the job the same way: start at the bottom, handle the grunt work, and pick up the rest along the way. Now AI is taking over much of that grunt work. So where does the learning happen?

Entry-level tasks were never just busywork. Drafting the first version, cleaning up the data, and taking notes in the meeting are where people built judgment, figured out how the organization really runs, and earned the trust to take on more. As those tasks shift to AI, the bottom rung of the ladder is getting harder to find. That raises big questions for new employees, for the managers who develop them, and for the L&D teams expected to fill the gap.

What We Will Discuss

• What entry-level work used to teach people, even though no one designed it that way
• How onboarding and early development need to change when new hires start higher up the ladder
• Whether ideas like apprenticeships or residency-style roles could work beyond medicine and the trades
• Where L&D fits when the traditional “learn by doing” path disappears

Come Ready to Contribute: Bring your own ladder story. How did you learn the ropes, and would that path still exist today?

Can’t Make It In Person? No Worries, We’ve Got Your Back! Register And Receive The Following:

 Access to the Learning Rebels resource page with all the extra goodies

 Copy of the video recording

 Copy of the chatbox transcription

 Copy of the full session transcript & summary

 Additional resources such as books, articles, and handouts