Generation AI: Results Day Meets the UK’s First AI-Native Job Market 

As hundreds of thousands of young people receive their A-level and GCSE results this month, they’re entering a labour market unlike any previous generation. AI adoption is accelerating across industries, causing concerns about what it means for entry-level roles and the career pathways that have traditionally helped young people gain experience to embark on a rewarding career.  

With 13.5% of 16-24 year olds not in education, employment or training – the highest rate in the UK since 2013 – the scale of the challenge is clear.  

So, what is changing and how can young people adapt as they enter the workforce? We spoke to seven business leaders to gain their perspective.  

The early-career challenge 

Young people aren’t out of work by chance, the number of entry-level roles has fallen considerably. In fact, graduate roles are down 45% year on year in 2026. AI has been identified as the main contributor to this decrease, but it doesn’t mean AI is totally removing entry-level jobs. For many industries, it is simply changing them.  

“In finance, the early stages of a career have historically involved repetitive tasks such as data entry and reconciliations,” describes Hugh Scantlebury, CEO and Founder of Aqilla.

“While these activities may appear mundane, they have always served an important purpose: building technical understanding and, perhaps most importantly, developing professional judgement.  

“As AI takes on more of this routine work, graduates are likely to spend less time producing outputs and more time reviewing, interpreting, and challenging them. In practical terms, knowing when to trust AI – and when to question it – will become just as important as learning how to use it in the first place,” he says.  

This will change the skills that employers are looking for when it comes to entry-level roles, Victoria Knight, Chief People Officer at Node4, explains:

“AI is changing roles faster than education can keep pace, so it isn’t realistic for employers to expect young people to arrive as the finished product. Instead, we have to look for critical thinking, adaptability, and sound judgement. These are the foundational capabilities that set high performers apart, enabling them to embrace change and continue adding value throughout their careers.”  

Bron Gondwana, CEO of Fastmail, echoes this sentiment:

“For young people starting their careers, I’d focus less on trying to predict which jobs AI might change and more on developing expertise that makes you valuable, regardless. While you have the energy, become really good at something, then look for the intersection between different skills or disciplines that nobody else is combining. That’s where innovation happens and where you’ll be hardest to replace. AI will continue to change how we work, but curiosity, adaptability and deep expertise will always matter.” 

But it is not only AI that is reshaping entry-level roles. Recent government policies, such as rising National Insurance contributions and National Minimum Wage, have increased the costs of employment, forcing businesses to cut recruitment. Unfortunately, it is often entry-level jobs that get cut first.   

Mark Williams, Managing Director, EMEA & Global Customer Success at WorkJam, explains that:

“As organisations are under pressure to reduce costs and increase efficiency, these jobs are becoming more limited.” 

However, he advocates that:

“Organisations need to find ways to invest in their early-career staff, while also improving productivity. We owe it to the next generation to protect these opportunities, even when economic pressures make doing so more difficult.” 

Other routes to success 

After finishing school, students are often encouraged to get their A-Levels, go to university and get an office-based job. But in today’s AI-driven world, this might not be the most stable route long-term.  

Instead, going into a trade job, or entering the manufacturing industry, is quickly becoming an attractive alternative to the ‘traditional’ career path. Yet, many young people don’t know about the opportunities available to them in that sector.  

“Schools are still celebrated for Russell Group offers while the economy is short of the electricians, engineers and technicians needed to deliver its biggest growth ambitions – from renewables and data centres to a golden age revival of UK manufacturing,” says Paraic O’Lochlainn VP eMaint, a Fluke Brand.

“Now we have over a million young people outside education or work, while industries like manufacturers offering paid training, progression and long-term demand can’t find enough people. That is not a lack of ambition. It is a failure of imagination from the system around them. We don’t just need more opportunities. We need to stop hiding the ones that already exist behind outdated assumptions about what a “good career” looks like. 

“Whilst university is a valuable route, it is not the only respectable one,” he continues. “For young people, manufacturing and the trades should not be a Plan B. They are a direct route into skill, income, purpose and the “first rung” of the career ladder that we keep claiming is missing.” 

Chris Richards, SVP International Sales at Syspro, agrees, stating that

“Recent research reveals that 75% of manufacturers identify skills shortages as their biggest barrier to growth. And with only a 0.6% year-on-year growth in the uptake of UK apprenticeships in manufacturing and engineering, a lack of new talent is starving the industry of fresh minds and new ideas. As students across the UK receive their exam results this month, it’s a critical time for young people deciding what their career path might look like, so it’s vital that businesses in our sector do more to encourage them into the industry.” 

A positive future 

Whilst this year’s graduates may be entering the most uncertain job market since the pandemic, it does not mean that there aren’t opportunities out there for them. AI is changing the way that many businesses hire, train and develop early-career talent but it will also create many new opportunities. If we think back to the dot-com boom, there were similar worries about job losses. But it created so many new roles, such as website designers and software developers, which we couldn’t have imagined before the internet!  

No one knows what the future will hold, but Russell Attwood, CEO of Route 101, offers some concluding words of advice:

“Students today should not judge their entire future by a single set of grades. Keep learning, work hard and be prepared to take the next opportunity. There are many routes forward, and your first step does not have to define where you finish.”