Digital Economy

Artificial intelligence already stealing jobs from Gen Z youths

This is stated by studies released in recent days and confirmed by Linkedin

29 May 2025

4' min read

Artificial intelligence is starting to create problems at work for young people of Generation Z, especially for tech roles. This is stated by some studies that have come out in recent days and confirmed by Linkedin, in the words of the chief economic opportunity officer. The alarm, also confirmed by the Future of Jobs 2025 report of the World economic forum (Wef), concerns above all entry-level figures. Young people, in fact. Although not all experts agree on this problem, it is significant that some new studies converge on the same conclusions, certainly to be watched carefully. They are relevant both for those entering the world of work or needing to evaluate a course of study and for companies called upon to make hiring decisions.

See the findings of research just published by SignalFire, a data-driven venture capital firm that monitors the labour movements of more than 600 million employees and 80 million companies on LinkedIn.

SignalFire noted that technology companies hired fewer new graduates in 2024 than in 2023. A 25% drop in 2024 compared to 2023. Meanwhile, the hiring of graduates in start-ups decreased 11% year-on-year.

And, to be more explicit about the causes, Asher Bantock, head of research at SignalFire, states that there is 'convincing evidence' that AI is a contributing factor.

Entry-level jobs are susceptible to automation because they often involve routine, low-risk tasks that generative AI handles well.

Companies such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had already considered reducing the hiring of junior staff by up to two-thirds and lowering the salaries of those hired because working with AI is no longer as demanding as in the past, according to a report in the New York Times last year.

At the same time, technology companies are in even greater need of experienced professionals. According to SignalFire's report, they have increased their hiring of professionals with two to five years of experience by 27%, while start-ups have hired 14% more people with the same level of seniority.

An old paradox that until now was little more than a joke - namely that companies want people with experience, but do not allow young people to get it, because they do not want to hire them - becomes reality.

Certainly Raman of Linkedin agrees: artificial intelligence is increasingly threatening those types of jobs that have historically been stepping stones for young workers at the beginning of their careers.

"The first to collapse are the lower rungs of the professional ladder.

According to the Wef report, 40 per cent of employers plan to reduce their workforce in areas where artificial intelligence is able to automate tasks.

For instance, artificial intelligence tools perform the simple coding and debugging tasks that junior programmers used to do to gain experience. Artificial intelligence is also doing the work that used to be the domain of young legal or retail employees (marketing, customer service workers, back office). In fact, the unemployment rate of university graduates has risen faster than that of other workers in recent years, Raman said, although there is still no conclusive evidence that artificial intelligence is the cause of the weak labour market.

Here: there may not yet be conclusive proof, but there are worrying signs and more and more experts blaming AI.

Not least because the picture is light and dark. According to Raman himself, companies are not eliminating entry-level jobs altogether; managers continue to seek new ideas from young workers and some have chosen to use AI to support them instead of replacing them. Some juniors can do better and more with the help of a chatbot, as some studies in marketing or customer service show.

A measurement made by the Economist on the US labour market these days shows that youth unemployment has been rising since 2009 and yet - at least by them - is being kept low (4 per cent). They analysed employment trends for the roles most impacted in theory by AI (white collar) and found no trace of this impact. The Economist adds that this trend is also found in other OECD countries.

The truth - notes the British liberalist magazine - is that few companies actually use it for important work. And they generally prefer to use AI to help a worker do his job faster, rather than to fire him.

There are studies to support this analysis. AI is not performing as well as expected and this is a brake on worker replacement or a hiring freeze. An IBM survey found that three out of four AI initiatives fail to deliver the promised ROI (return on investment). A National Bureau of Economic Research study of workers in AI-exposed industries found that the technology had almost no impact on earnings or hours worked.

According to S&P Global, a data provider, the percentage of companies abandoning most of their generative AI pilots has risen to 42%, up from 17% last year. The head of Klarna, a Swedish provider of 'buy now, pay later' services, has just admitted to overusing technology to cut customer service jobs and is now re-hiring human staff to fill those roles. According to McKinsey, the adoption of generative AI could increase labour productivity by only between 0.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent per year by 2040, depending on the level of adoption and the reorganisation of work tasks.

But what then, in this confusion? Many experts suggest, however, that young people keep this question in mind. Demis Hassabis, head of Google Deepmind and Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry, suggests insisting on Stem studies - skills that are in any case important - and at the same time working on 'metacompetences', which are typically human: critical sense, creativity, flexibility, interpersonal skills, 'learning to learn'.

It is not very clear as an indication but, in the night, even a small light can make a difference on the way.