The latest L&D news, reports, research and updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook. This week: Traditional career ladders are adapting to portfolio approaches. Respect at work is collapsing, with discrimination costs soaring. L&D’s AI use is maturing. Davos leaders unpack scaling hurdles; Nvidia’s Jensen Huang dismisses bubble fears.
How coaches can use AI in practice without becoming “prompt jockeys”
AI in coaching should reduce admin and sharpen reflection, not turn practitioners into full-time prompt tinkerers. In practice, that means using AI for the parts of coaching that benefit from structure and reflection, while keeping the relational, ethical, and contextual judgement firmly human. This is why TJ is proud to be a media partner for the Digital and AI Coaches’ Conference, live online next month.
Front-line supervisors are often promoted without leadership skills, Gallup says
Only 30% of front-line supervisors said they were placed into their role based on supervisory skills, experience as a supervisor or because they began their career as a supervisor, according to recent data from Gallup. 65% of front-line supervisors said they obtained their position “based on performance or years of experience in a front-line role.” Supervisors who obtained their roles this way are less engaged (31%) than peers who got their roles through supervisory skills, experience as a supervisor, or who began their career as a supervisor (42%).
Front-line supervisors who have been through training that focused on becoming a better supervisor in the past year are 79% more likely to be engaged, per Gallup. The report also said they were 19% less likely “to feel burned out at work very often or always, and 11% less likely to be actively looking or watching for a new job.”
New research explains why decisions slow down before Christmas and get rushed in January
A new UK workforce study reveals how uncertainty is driving poor decision making, wasted time and end of year frustration. A UK wide survey commissioned by the authors of The Uncertainty Toolkit and the founders of The Uncertainty Experts, who have recently joined the Mediazoo Group, found that decision making frequently stalls in December and is subsequently rushed in January, often leading to rework and regret.
The study, conducted among employed UK adults aged 25 to 55, explored how people respond to uncertainty at work and in daily life. The findings suggest uncertainty itself is not the main problem, but how people attempt to escape it.
Researchers tested AI against 100,000 humans on creativity
A massive new study comparing more than 100,000 people with today’s most advanced AI systems delivers a surprising result: generative AI can now beat the average human on certain creativity tests. Models like GPT-4 showed strong performance on tasks designed to measure original thinking and idea generation, sometimes outperforming typical human responses. But there’s a clear ceiling. The most creative humans — especially the top 10% — still leave AI well behind, particularly on richer creative work like poetry and storytelling.
Is the traditional career ladder broken?
A number of workers are reconsidering what makes for a successful career, with some outright rejecting the traditional career ladder in favor of “portfolio careers” — or having multiple sources of income, according to Randstad’s latest Workmonitor research, released Tuesday.
Of the more than 27,000 workers surveyed, only 41% said they want to follow a traditional career path. Likewise, 72% of the 1,225 employers polled said the linear career ladder is outdated.
Unfair and unwelcome treatment at work is spiralling
Gallup reports that respect at work is in a tailspin, hitting a record low in 2025. That decline shows up in hard outcomes. In 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) won a record $700 million for victims of workplace discrimination. New TalentLMS research uncovers the lived reality behind these trends, and the systemic failures that sustain them. Based on a survey of U.S. employees, it captures how workplace protection is experienced on the ground.
The data tells two conflicting stories. While 71% of surveyed U.S. employees feel protected at work, only 38% didn’t witness any workplace misconduct or mistreatment. That gap reveals a troubling contradiction. Protection is uneven and, as further findings show, fragile when tested.
AI use in L&D matured over the last 12 months
On Learning Now TV this month, Egle Vinauskaite discusses how AI use in L&D matured during 2025.
Davos 2026: Leaders on why scaling AI still feels hard – and what to do about it
- Even as the technology matures and adoption becomes widespread, scaling AI still feels hard for many companies
- While an estimated $1.5 trillion was invested in AI last year, many companies are still struggling to start or scale their AI projects
- At Davos 2026, some of the companies at the forefront of AI adoption discussed how they are scaling AI beyond pilots
Jensen Huang says AI bubble fears are dwarfed by ‘the largest infrastructure build-out in human history’
Pushing back against growing scepticism regarding the sustainability of artificial intelligence spending, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang argued against the mountain backdrop of Davos, Switzerland, that high capital expenditures are not a sign of a financial bubble, but rather evidence of “the largest infrastructure build-out in human history.”
