So you’re replacing your junior hires with AI. Who will replace your seniors? 

What started as whispers has now turned into headlines. The number of UK entry-level tech jobs has dropped by a third since the launch of ChatGPT. Efficiency is king, and businesses are increasingly leaning on AI to handle the tasks that were once assigned to junior and entry-level hires.  

Where AI can truly do a role end-to-end, skipping the human hire makes sense – but those cases are few and far between (as some CEOs have learned the hard way). The real risk comes from gutting entry-level roles wholesale, which will erode the pipeline of skills, resilience, and innovation that an AI-first future is likely to demand. 

The vanishing first rung 

It’s easy to overlook the value of junior roles. It’s not always obvious that apprentices, interns, and juniors have a meaningful impact on any given business, so companies are automating these roles away – Vodafone, for example, says its TOBi assistant now handles around 60% of customer interactions, with nearly two-thirds of customers resolving their query without a human.  

The bottom-line impact, at a glance, seems positive. Cut staff, save money, drive efficiency; it looks straightforward. But there are other consequences at play when the first rung of the career ladder, once a reliable step up, begins to vanish. Ones that are harder to measure. 

Entry-level talent has traditionally been the lifeblood of organisations. Juniors bring fresh perspectives, a natural adaptability to new technologies, and a hunger to learn that can re-ignite innovation. Many of today’s digital leaders will have started in roles that their seniors once saw as replaceable, and those roles gave them the space to learn, experiment, and build. 

Selling seeds to save money 

AI is a powerful tool when it comes to accelerating tasks, but it can’t build trust with a client. It can’t inspire a team, or navigate the complex ethical and emotional grey areas that exist in the business world. There are sacrifices that come with relentlessly pursuing efficiency, and if junior roles continue to disappear, we risk losing new ideas and creativity – not to mention a hollowing-out of leadership pipelines. It’s like selling seeds to save money. What will you plant for the future? 

The skills employers actually want are human 

It’s ironic that, as technology advances and entry-level roles begin to disappear, the demand for human skills is soaring. Research shows that 3 in 5 employers now rank soft skills as more important than they did 5 years ago. Employers want values and cultural alignment (half say alignment with values and culture distinguishes a successful hire from an unsuccessful one), and they’re not going to get that from AI. 

This is why AI and human talent can be such a powerful combination. AI can handle repetitive, data-driven tasks. Junior employees can supervise, get things done faster, and handle the more complex and emotional facets of their job – the bits that require human skills. They can focus on developing higher-value skills that will become critical in their future careers. But they can only do this if the entry-level jobs are there for them. 

What we should be doing differently 

Nurturing the next generation of talent is a responsibility shared by employers, educators, and policymakers alike. Here’s a look at what could be done differently. 

Employers investing in early-career training, mentorship, and skills-based development is one way to help. At a time when anxieties are high about AI and the future of work, companies can play a role in setting the tone – supporting employees to grow with AI, not against it. Even if entry-level roles evolve or shrink, offering pathways for younger workers to adapt and learn will be critical. 

Educators should focus on teaching human skills alongside technical proficiency. All too often, technical skills get the emphasis and people leave education without the skills to communicate and collaborate effectively. Even creativity can be taught and learned. A stronger emphasis on career advice embedded into school curriculums from a younger age could help students better understand the value of their human skills and how they can be harnessed at work. 

Policymakers should incentivise apprenticeships, graduate pathways, and skills development initiatives that integrate AI literacy. This is already happening to some extent, but the importance of these initiatives cannot be underestimated. Young people are leaving school and being left adrift. We need to present them with pathways that are rewarding and make sense. 

A message to young people 

To young people entering the workforce: Don’t be discouraged. Your unique blend of human and technical skills is needed somewhere – the demand is real and rising. Lean into your emotional intelligence, your adaptability, your creativity. Develop your AI fluency, and hold onto your human strengths – because employers cannot and will not automate them. 

The businesses that will thrive are the ones who keep planting their seeds, nurturing talent from the very beginning of their careers, and investing in human skills and ingenuity. If we want resilient businesses and sturdy leadership pipelines, we must keep investing in people. 

By Wouter Durville, CEO and co-founder of TestGorilla