Is AI Already Killing the Entry-Level Job?

Grace Bower

A new survey by the UK jobs website Adzuna found that entry-level vacancies dropped by almost 50% in just a year.

The survey reported 8,383 graduate vacancies listed in July, which is down approximately 45.52% from 15,387 at the same point last year. In the U.S., a separate report by the AI-powered hiring platform Cadient, found that over a four year period, since 2022, the salaried jobs open to candidates with zero experience has fallen 73%. That’s just 1 in 50 openings now offered to inexperienced candidates, down from 1 in 15 in 2022. The disconcerting data comes paired with the unemployment rate among recent U.S. graduates (aged 22-27) sitting at 5.6% – higher than the rate for workers overall, at 4.2%.

The finger, for many, points to one culprit: AI. As generative tools take on more of the repetitive, high-volume “grunt work” that used to be exactly how graduates learned on the job, entry-level postings have started to disappear even in sectors long assumed safe from automation. So what does this actually mean for graduates entering the job market right now? And which fields are bearing the brunt of it all?

The “Erasure” of the Bottom Rung

In a recent Forbes article, Michael T. Nietzel asked Cadient CEO Bill Mastin for his thoughts on the data’s implications. Mastin pointed to a broader shift in degree requirements for jobs. Just 27% of U.S. jobs typically require a two- or four-year degree, and a growing share of employers are dropping that requirement altogether, prioritizing relevant experience instead. But of course, experience cannot be had without a job, and vice versa, so therein lies the dilemma.

It is a “seniorization” dilemma, in that postings once labeled “entry-level” are now more often demanding 2-3 years of experience, since more employers are expecting new hires to slot in at a higher level from day one. And many believe this to be the case because more employers are utilizing AI tools to absorb the repetitive work of junior analysts, basic coding, first drafts and data entry. The roles once easily passed on to new grads.

But the “bigger problem” of it all, that Mastin goes on to suggest, is the way the hiring process itself typically works today for organizations across numerous fields. Digital applicant tracking systems (ATS) are now commonplace, with software screening out candidates by keywords, skills, education and years of experience before a human ever sees the application.

With all these added hurdles facing new grads, opinion on what’s actually happening tends to split. Some see it as the total erasure of the bottom rung altogether, the entry-level job, as it once existed, simply disappearing. Others frame it less as an erasure and more as a raising of the bar, one graduates will need to reach differently than the generations before them. And then there’s a third group, taking the if-you-can’t-join-’em-beat-’em approach, where Gen Z has rapidly become one of the most entrepreneurial generations on record, with many opting to skip the traditional ladder altogether and build one of their own through start-up businesses.

Which Fields Are Hit Hardest?

With AI filling the role once held by junior staff, it makes sense that this missing-rung phenomenon is felt most acutely in tech and other fields most exposed to AI automation. And the numbers back this up, with a Stanford Digital Economy Lab study confirming entry-level tech postings in the U.S. have dropped 67% between 2023 and 2024.

Finance tells a similar story. Data compiled by Rezi.ai found entry-level postings in the sector down 24% in 2026, with AI and automation increasingly handling mechanical, beginner-level tasks – transaction categorization, invoice processing and basic financial drafting – that once took new hires weeks to learn, now take AI a matter of minutes.

But the current job market for fresh grads isn’t all so bleak. Healthcare has seen entry-level postings rise 13% between 2025 and 2026, amid the broader downward trend, and cybersecurity remains in high demand for similar reasons. IBM’s early-2026 pledge to triple entry-level hiring in software, cybersecurity, and AI engineering offers a concrete sign that hiring hasn’t stopped everywhere.

How to Make it

All things considered, getting a foot in the door may seem harder today than ever. But practical advice is out there, and coming to a clearer understanding of the current job scene is a simple enough first step to assessing the path ahead. If you’ve read this far, you’ve already done that.

According to Mastin, the first hurdle to overcome is the ATS. So, well-tailored resumes, ones with honest skills and qualifications that align with what a posting asks for, are key. That doesn’t mean stuffing a resume with every keyword in sight to try to beat the system. ATS software and hiring managers will catch that too. Instead, it’s worth actually learning how these systems work, and tailoring applications with that real understanding.

Similarly, developing AI fluency, and understanding how these tools are actually reshaping the entry-level job, is becoming less of a bonus skill and more of a baseline expectation. This isn’t, however, a call to blindly embrace AI without question, as its rise carries real costs too, including environmental impact and ongoing debate over what heavy reliance on it might mean for our own critical thinking. Still, whether graduates are on board with AI in principle or not, it’s fast becoming the tool the working world is adapting around, and reaching that next rung may just mean adapting alongside it.