The Stepstone Group

AI Shifts Youth Toward Hands-On Trades

A t3n article reports findings from Autodesk’s "AI Jobs Report 2026," showing that many young people are turning away from purely digital office careers and increasingly prefer hands-on professions like construction, manufacturing and trades. The survey (1,000 students aged 14–23 and 500 creative/production professionals) found 66% of students and 61% of professionals want careers that involve making physical things — a 6 percentage-point increase from 2024. Although 82% of U.S. respondents feel confident using AI tools such as Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT, most underappreciate the technical aspects of trade and manufacturing: 60% view those fields as mainly manual and only 24% see them as highly technical. Only 36% feel able to use job-specific AI tools; 80% prefer to learn relevant skills via YouTube. Autodesk also reports a 32% year-over-year rise in AI-related job postings for design and manufacturing.

LPs Pivot to Deep Tech as AI Concentrates Capital

A newsletter recap of a StepStone annual meeting and wider industry signals argues venture capital is concentrating heavily into AI-native and deep‑tech companies, accelerating a widening performance gap between firms with AI tailwinds and legacy software. LPs and GPs signalled preference for physical AI, robotics, agent-native infrastructure and defense/space investments over thin software layers. The author cites data showing markedly higher revenue growth and valuation multiples for companies with AI momentum, high concentration of deal value in foundation models, and an increasingly bifurcated VC returns landscape. The piece highlights agentic AI concepts (skills, package managers, agent orchestration), endpoint security responses (e.g., Palo Alto Networks’ intent to acquire Koi), and product moves like Airtable’s Hyperagent and developer tooling such as Tessl. The bottom line: speed, scale and concentration are reshaping where durable enterprise value will accrue.

Good Employees Quit Leadership, Not Jobs

An interview with Verena Fritzenwenger, CEO of People Consulting GmbH, discusses strategies to retain top talent and reduce employee turnover by addressing leadership quality and growth opportunities. The piece cites a StepStone Group study showing 73% of workers monthly consider a job change, up from 64% a year earlier. Key exit drivers include higher salary (35%), dissatisfaction with the current role (34%), workplace stress (33%), and more attractive offers (26%). Fritzenwenger argues that companies should focus on strong leadership, open communication, and targeted employee development to keep staff. She also advocates practical measures such as flexible work models, including a four‑day workweek with equal pay, and warns against offering raises during resignation discussions. She emphasizes that loyalty grows when employees feel heard, valued, and given genuine development paths. Only 25% report complete satisfaction with their supervisors.