Imagine graduating from school, full of energy and ambition, only to find that the traditional “starter job” has quietly vanished. For today’s new workforce entrants, that’s not just a frustrating job search—it’s a growing structural problem.
Entry-level jobs openings have declined by 32% in the UK since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, including graduate jobs, internships and junior roles according to The Guardian. These roles now represent roughly 25% of postings, down from close to 29% in 2022. Indeed data also confirms the trend, especially in sectors like retail, logistics, IT or finance. While the state of the economy can explain a lower appetite for hiring to some extent, it cannot explain the whole of it.
The disappearance of entry-level roles isn’t new, but AI is now accelerating the trend in a way we can’t afford to ignore. These jobs, once the foundation of professional growth, are being absorbed by automation faster than we’re creating new pathways. It’s becoming harder for people to start careers at all, and the long-term risks this poses to our workforce are too big to brush aside.
The disappearing First Rung
Over the past few years, we’ve seen automation and AI move from the back office to the front lines. Basic data entry, scheduling, inventory checks, frontline support, even market research... many of these tasks, once assigned to junior employees, are now handled by AI agents.
But these tasks weren’t just about output. They were training grounds. Entry-level roles helped people build confidence, learn how businesses work, and develop professional judgment. You didn’t just gain technical skills, you learned how to work with others, navigate ambiguity, and problem-solve in the real world. Without these early exposures, how do you grow into more senior roles?
Job postings reflect this shift. More and more, we’re seeing requirements like “2–3 years experience” even for roles that were once stepping stones. Employers want hires who can hit the ground running. While this is totally understandable to maximize your staff productivity, if everyone needs experience to get experience, the system just breaks down.
AI is reshaping career pathways, but not rebuilding them.
AI is not just replacing specific jobs, it’s reshaping the structure of how people build careers. For decades, there was a clear ladder: start at the bottom, learn the ropes, grow into more complex roles. That ladder is now looking more like a missing stepstool.
And while some are optimistic that AI will create new job categories, we haven’t yet seen these new roles materialize at the pace we need. Most are still too technical, too niche, or too senior to absorb the volume of people left behind by disappearing entry points.
This is especially concerning for young workers and those from underrepresented backgrounds. If we take away the “learn by doing” phase, we risk widening inequality and losing a generation of talent before they even get started.
It's not just a youth problem, it's a pipeline problem.
Some might argue that this is just part of progress. After all, new technologies always change the labor market. But here’s the difference: in the past, the automation of certain jobs gave rise to new ones with clear pathways. What we’re seeing now is more ambiguous.
If we don’t protect or reimagine early-career opportunities, we risk a long-term talent gap. Fewer junior hires today means fewer trained managers and leaders five or ten years from now. That’s not just a youth employment issue, that’s a business continuity issue.
So what is next?
The solution isn’t to resist AI, it’s to build around it. We need a deliberate response that addresses this gap in early-career development:
Employers can reimagine entry-level roles to blend human and machine capabilities. Instead of removing the person, use automation to free up time for mentorship, creativity, and development.
Policymakers can expand funding for apprenticeship programs and incentivize companies to hire and train young talent in digital and AI-powered environments.
Educators need to shift focus from abstract qualifications to real-world job readiness, especially in hybrid AI-human workplaces.
And as business leaders, we need to acknowledge that investing in the first rung of the ladder isn’t charity: it’s strategy.
Because if we fail to act, we may soon find ourselves with a generation of ambitious, capable young people who simply have nowhere to begin.