Entry‑level hiring is shrinking
Multiple reports say AI adoption is coinciding with a drop in the creation of new entry‑level tech roles, with Mint arguing the first impact of AI may be fewer junior openings rather than mass layoffs. LinkedIn data showed entry‑level hiring in Singapore fell about 4.43% year‑over‑year, and broader analyses highlight a shift toward AI, content and business roles for new graduates. (livemint.com, sbr.com.sg)
Entry-level tech hiring is shrinking before mass layoffs arrive, with employers cutting junior openings as artificial intelligence tools absorb more starter tasks. (livemint.com) Mint reported on April 14 that the first labor-market effect of artificial intelligence may be fewer new jobs, not fewer existing workers. The article cited SignalFire data showing hiring of people with less than one year of experience fell by nearly 50% between 2019 and 2024. (livemint.com, signalfire.com) SignalFire said Big Tech companies cut new-graduate hiring 25% in 2024 from 2023, and startups cut it 11%. New graduates accounted for just 7% of Big Tech hires and under 6% of startup hires in its 2025 talent report. (signalfire.com) The pattern is showing up outside the United States too. LinkedIn data cited by Singapore Business Review said entry-level hiring in Singapore fell 4.43% year over year in a 2026 report, even though the decline was steeper for more senior roles. (sbr.com.sg) Employers are still hiring, but the mix is changing. The World Economic Forum said in its January 2025 Future of Jobs Report that the fastest-growing roles through 2030 include artificial intelligence and machine learning specialists, big data specialists, and fintech engineers, while clerical and administrative roles are among the fastest-declining. (weforum.org, weforum.org) That leaves new graduates competing for fewer traditional on-ramps. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said recent college graduates in the United States had a 5.7% unemployment rate and a 42.5% underemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2025, the highest underemployment reading since 2020. (newyorkfed.org) Companies say artificial intelligence is raising output, not simply replacing staff. Salesforce said in November 2025 that service leaders expect artificial intelligence to resolve half of customer service cases by 2027, up from 30% at the time of its survey, in a function that has long served as an entry point for early-career workers. (salesforce.com, livemint.com) Not everyone blames artificial intelligence alone. Mint noted that some economists say companies may be using artificial intelligence to explain hiring pullbacks that also reflect overhiring after the pandemic, tighter budgets, and cost cuts tied to infrastructure spending. (livemint.com) Career-services groups are adjusting to that shift rather than calling it a temporary dip. The National Association of Colleges and Employers said on April 15 that employers project a 1.6% increase in hiring for the Class of 2026, while 10.5% of entry-level job postings now require artificial intelligence skills. (naceweb.org) The immediate problem is not that every junior worker is being fired. It is that the bottom rung is getting narrower just as a larger share of entry-level jobs asks candidates to arrive with artificial intelligence skills already in hand. (livemint.com, naceweb.org)
