Nearly half of Canadian students say their critical thinking skills have deteriorated since they started using AI; experts urge HR to focus on adaptability, not just AI proficiency
Canadian employers are facing a new challenge: the next wave of entry-level workers is arriving with unprecedented proficiency in artificial intelligence tools, but with equally unprecedented gaps in critical thinking, communication, and social skills.
This shift, revealed by recent KPMG surveys of Canadian students, is alarming experts who urge HR professionals to seriously rethink their recruitment, onboarding, and training strategies for this differently-skilled labour force.
Bryan Spencer, assistant professor of management strategy at the University of Alberta, sees this trend firsthand on campus, and agrees that there is a widening gap between skills being learned and skills expected from future employers.
“On top of basic job skills, the reason people do an undergraduate degree is because it fosters some of that reflective ability, and ability to think about issues critically,” says Spencer.
“This resonates with us, because it's inevitable that students are going to use this, and I think that survey really backs up what we see on campus, that everyone is engaging with it in every facet of their life.”
The KPMG survey shows that the majority of Canadian students (73%) are now using generative AI tools for their schoolwork, a sharp increase from 52 percent just two years ago. Nearly half say their critical thinking skills have deteriorated since they started using AI, and 65 percent report that their peers rely on AI to avoid critical thinking altogether.
Onboarding to fast-track skill development
Interestingly, KPMG’s research found that 71 per cent of students say their grades improved after using AI, but 66 per cent admit they aren’t learning or retaining as much knowledge.
According to Lewis Curley, People and Change Practice partner at KPMG in Canada, this disconnect between higher academic performance and actual skill development is a warning sign for organizations that rely on GPAs and other traditional indicators to assess candidates.
He explains that the future of recruitment and early-stage training must include an accelerated advancement strategy.
“We used to rely on doing some of the more basic work, junior work, as giving people experience. This is what the jobs entails, and you build on top of it,” Curley says.
“For businesses, it’s ‘How do we ensure that we have an appropriately accelerated learning journey for people that are new to the workforce?’ While that doesn't mean that they might not do some of the more basic early career stuff, we kind of want to move them up the value chain, because AI can do that.”
He also emphasizes more project- and team-based work for early career employees to fill in gaps in social and emotional connection skills.
For HR, this means designing onboarding and early career programs that deliberately build the skills AI cannot provide, such as collaboration, communication, and adaptability: “It's a rethinking of the way that we design that early career work. I think that's the most important outcome from some of this.”
Recruiting for adaptability and human skills
Seventy percent of students use AI to create and edit their resumes, the survey found. This widespread use of AI in the job application process has made it more challenging for employers to identify candidates with genuine communication and critical thinking skills.
Since AI use is now so ubiquitous, the focus now should be on skills that allow new hires to use the AI responsibly and ethically. Curley advises employers to focus on the skills that AI can’t easily replicate, such as team-led assessments.
“You bring people in and they work as a team, you give them a problem and they solve it together, and you observe, or you become part of that team,” Curley says.
“How do you test for critical thinking? How do you maybe allow the use of AI, that says ‘Yes, we want you to use AI in your day-to-day day job, but we also want to make sure that you understand the limitations of AI.”
Spencer adds that HR itself must also change its expectations for new hires. With management of ever-changing technology now a core job requirement, there needs to be a focus on hiring for adaptability as a key skill for new human resources professionals.
“We have to think about people that are very adaptive, that they can adjust to these new situations, having high levels of interpretive skills,” says Spencer.
“That doesn't just mean analytically, like they need to be good at crunching numbers, but this qualitative assessment, when the environment's changing and even the roles people are performing are changing. Do you have someone who can make sense of that while it's all in motion? I think that's really important.”
Training for a moving target
KPMG reported that 77 percent of students said they want their educational institution to offer courses on how to use AI, revealing an opportunity for employers to fill that need as a recruitment tool.
However, the rapid evolution of AI tools means that both employers and employees must be ready to adapt with flexible training and use models.
Spencer warns against relying on AI as a decision-maker, instead using AI tools as a valuable extension to augment processes: “What I think good workers will be able to do is to leverage it alongside the skills that they develop. So that they can be kind of these super employees.”
Curley sees a silver lining in the rise of “agentic AI,” where AI acts as a team member rather than just a tool – it also opens up new leadership training opportunities.
“If you're an individual contributor, you join the workforce and you're just focused on your work, at some point in your career, you may likely move into a management role where you would lead people,” Curley explains.
“Now with the agents and agentic AI, potentially that management role, although it will be management of agents, comes earlier in your career. You build those skills on how you delegate, how you check for quality of work, how you apply decision making, critical thinking that you would do as a leader [you now] do every day earlier in your career.”
