How AI Is 'Snipping the Career Ladder Off at the Bottom'

Why It Matters

If firms stop hiring junior staff, the traditional pathway for building workforce skills will erode, threatening the long-term talent pipeline, career progression, and economic mobility for new entrants. That shift could widen skills gaps and force firms and policymakers to rethink training, hiring, and labor-market policy.

Summary

Researchers tracking labor-market effects of generative AI find that entry-level hiring has weakened sharply since the release of ChatGPT, with one study estimating an immediate 9% drop in hires and roughly 150,000 fewer early-career jobs in the observed period. The disruption is concentrated among younger workers and in occupations most exposed to automation, while headline employment and layoffs have not shown comparable shocks. Employers are continuing to fill roles requiring experience but are hiring fewer junior employees, reducing on-the-job training and apprenticeship opportunities. Analysts caution that not all of the decline can be definitively attributed to AI, but evidence points to AI as a meaningful contributing factor.

Original Description

The rapid spread of AI across corporate America is creating a crisis for young adults with college degrees who are finding a slowdown in hiring for entry-level positions in AI-exposed industries.

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