It's time to address the looming crisis in entry-level work. Recent studies show a troubling decline in early-career hiring in AI-exposed occupations, even as more experienced workers remain unaffected.

The concern is specific to young people starting their careers. Firms may be using AI to replace junior tasks traditionally learned on-the-job, such as coding and customer service roles. Educational institutions must adapt, governments should incentivize hiring, and students need to embrace AI fluency.

Worse still, the broader job market is softening for recent graduates. The unemployment rate rose to 5.6% in Q4 2025, with underemployment rates hitting 42.5%, up from post-pandemic levels. This isn't just about AI; hiring has slowed across the board, but young people are particularly vulnerable.

The impact is profound. Delayed independence and postponed family formation are real concerns if early-career jobs vanish quietly. Entry-level roles also form a critical part of the economy’s training system. Legal, financial, and marketing staff learn from practical experience that AI can't fully replicate.

To address this, universities must embed AI literacy into their curricula, ensuring graduates know how to use AI tools effectively while combining them with human expertise. The competition for young workers is now between human-colleague pairs who are fluent in AI versus those who aren’t.