--- title: AI Did Not Kill the Entry-Level Job. Leaders Did. description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. canonical: https://time.com/partner-content/charter/ai-did-not-kill-the-entry-level-job-leaders-did-/ author: Tracy Layney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-09-03T09:30:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-09-04T01:02:20.399Z article:section: Charter og:title: AI Did Not Kill the Entry-Level Job. Leaders Did. og:description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. 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Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4bd5a83d2e40ae4/6a9a1146643c9ef723a5beb5/charter-on-the-job-learning.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- The information presented here is created by Charter, independently from the TIME editorial staff.  Time charter * [Entry-level workers](/partner-content/-partner-name-/tag/entry-level-workers/) ## Entry-level workers # AI Did Not Kill the Entry-Level Job. Leaders Did. > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Tracy Layney](https://time.com/author/tracy-layney/) Senior advisor, Charter Tracy Layney is a senior advisor for Charter and the former CHRO of Levi Strauss & Co. and Shutterfly Sep 3, 2026 9:30 AM UTC  Art: Charter by [Tracy Layney](https://time.com/author/tracy-layney/) Senior advisor, Charter Tracy Layney is a senior advisor for Charter and the former CHRO of Levi Strauss & Co. and Shutterfly Sep 3, 2026 9:30 AM UTC “What am I going to do with this degree?” I have been asked a version of this question at least a dozen times in the past few months—both from my friends' kids and my kid's friends. My son just began his senior year in college, and I am in the thick of it. I have run human resources for a decade and worked in the function for most of my career. Understandably, I’ve become the go-to person for this cohort of young people seeking advice. After all, the world completely changed during their first three years in college. They arrived on campus in the fall of 2023 often forbidden to use gen AI, only to be launching their job searches in an era of[ impervious, bot-driven online applications](https://www.axios.com/2026/08/21/job-seekers-ai-hiring-ghost-jobs-trust) and headlines warning of an[ AI-driven job apocalypse.](https://sfstandard.com/2026/08/20/entry-level-tech-jobs/) Is it any wonder that when 2026 commencement speakers invited new graduates to embrace an AI-driven world,[ several were loudly booed by their audiences](https://www.fastcompany.com/91544965/ai-getting-booed-2026-commencement-speeches-graduation)? I have nothing but empathy for these young people. Here’s what I want to tell them: the rise of AI has just exacerbated a problem that was already in place but few companies want to talk about. Many companies chose to begin walking away from true entry-level hiring years ago. AI only accelerated it. Sign up for Charter's newsletter to get the handbook for the future of work delivered to your inbox. Email Address You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our [Terms of Service](https://www.charterworks.com/terms-of-service/) and [Privacy Policy](https://www.charterworks.com/privacy-policy/). In my decades working in HR, I watched it happen. Every time there was a downsizing or rightsizing or reorganization, some of the first jobs to go were the junior, entry-level jobs—or the internships and programs that fed them. Soon, it became standard to have the baseline requirement of any job in the company be three to five years of experience. Employers cut investments in [leadership development programs](https://www.charterworks.com/download-getting-ahead-of-the-leadership-gap/), got distracted during a global pandemic while adopting hybrid work, and have long been stripping out layers of management to increase efficiencies. [Peter Cappelli](https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-cappelli-14936a3/), director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources, was[ describing this as far back as 2012](https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/why-good-people-cant-get-jobs-chasing-after-the-purple-squirrel/), a decade before anyone had ever heard of ChatGPT. "Everybody wants somebody with three to five years' experience,” he said at the time. “Nobody wants to give those people right out of school any experience." If anything, employers have doubled down since.[ Indeed's Hiring Lab found](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2026/07/23/the-labor-market-is-tilting-toward-seniority/) that as of May 2026, senior-level job postings were up 14.7% year over year, while entry-level postings fell 7.5% over the same period. Of course, this is not every company. For decades, Gap, Inc. has run—and still runs—the[ Rotational Management Program](https://www.gapinc.com/en-us/careers/student-and-recent-grads/rotational-management-program), one of the most robust entry-level rotational programs in apparel retail. When I was CHRO of Levi Strauss & Co., our CEO [Chip Bergh](https://www.linkedin.com/in/chipbergh/) was an enthusiastic supporter of our internship program, and importantly, of converting those interns to employees. He made the argument—and I agree with him—that young employees are consistently some of the most creative, enthusiastic, and economical employees you will ever hire. Today, young workers are also “AI natives,” making them even more valuable hires, not less. But while there are bright spots, it is hard to deny that the outlook for entry-level hiring is bleak. Unemployment for 22- to 27-year-old college graduates in the US stands at [5.7%](https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:unemployment), roughly twice the rate for degree holders [over age 25](https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/unemployment-rates-for-persons-25-years-and-older-by-educational-attainment.htm). Employers are the ones choosing not to bring on young workers, ceding this part of the talent pipeline to their competitors and mortgaging their own futures as a result. Who will be their leaders over the next few decades if they do not invest in them now? I believe there is a better way. First, every company should have some sort of entry-level talent strategy. Create roles designed for young workers to learn your business and contribute their own talents and perspectives. Leverage these young workers’ AI-native skills to build broader capabilities within your organization. AI can make these roles more interesting, not less, so build roles that add real value. Second, make sure their managers know how to best support entry-level talent. I think this is where we so often fall down. It is typically first-time managers who lead young workers, and too often we do not give them the fundamental skills they need to manage others. Ensure you have programs for new managers to learn how to delegate work, set performance expectations, provide feedback, and generally get the best out of the people on their teams. Finally, have a plan to develop and promote the young workers who excel. As young talent develops, don’t be afraid to expand their roles and offer them stretch assignments, lateral moves, and of course, promotions. Too often we use narrowly defined positions on an org chart to keep people in roles long after they have outgrown them. It’s okay if they move on in a few years—and they will—but having an entry-level talent pipeline will mitigate the impacts of these losses. As [Georgios Petropoulos](https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgios-petropoulos-58bb50147/) of USC’s Marshall School of Business recently pointed out in[ _MIT Technology Review_,](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/05/26/1137865/its-time-to-address-the-looming-crisis-in-entry-level-work/) “Entry-level hiring is not just an expense. It is an investment in the future stock of judgment inside the firm. The most effective AI-augmented senior workforce of the late 2030s will be drawn overwhelmingly from the junior cohort of today.” The good news is that some companies are starting to realize this. In Accenture’s recent[ Pulse of Change survey](https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/pulse-of-change), 52% of leaders say they plan to hire more entry-level talent due to AI. Companies like IBM have talked about [tripling their entry-level hiring plans](https://www.charterworks.com/ibms-nine-year-ai-journey/) this year. Some [data](https://www.inc.com/bruce-crumley/finally-some-good-news-for-new-grads-employers-plan-a-hiring-rebound-for-the-class-of-2026-as-ai-strategies-shift/91334562) suggest hiring may be [looking up](https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/are-college-graduates-finally-catching-a-break-in-this-job-market-38c37541) for early career workers. When these young people ask me what they are going to do with their degrees, I tell them the truth: it is hard right now, and it is not their fault. The market they are walking into was built by a decade of decisions that had nothing to do with them. But when HR leaders ask me what we should do about the issue, I remind them we _can_ chart a different path. We can make different choices. We can hire differently, design entry-level roles differently, and teach the managers who will lead them. Remember, AI didn't kill the entry-level job—we, as leaders, did. And as leaders, we're the only ones who can bring it back. [_Tracy Layney_](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracylayney/) _is a senior advisor at Charter and a former CHRO at both Levi Strauss & Co. and Shutterfly. Layney advises companies on human capital strategy and teaches at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business._ **What else to read:** * What AI is doing to [on-the-job learning](https://www.charterworks.com/what-ai-is-doing-to-on-the-job-learning-and-how-to-protect-it/), and how to protect it * The debate over what’s driving [entry-level hiring](https://www.charterworks.com/the-debate-over-whats-driving-entry-level-hiring/) * Why IBM is ‘[tripling](https://www.charterworks.com/ibms-nine-year-ai-journey/)’ entry-level hiring as AI reshapes jobs --- ## Read more from Charter [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/) [Open article: Why the Office Isn’t a Cure for Loneliness](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/why-the-office-isn-t-a-cure-for-loneliness/)  ### Why the Office Isn’t a Cure for Loneliness [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/why-the-office-isn-t-a-cure-for-loneliness/) [Open article: How to Pitch AI More Effectively to Workers](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/how-to-pitch-ai-more-effectively-to-workers/)  ### How to Pitch AI More Effectively to Workers [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/how-to-pitch-ai-more-effectively-to-workers/) [Open article: Who the Layoff Tax Hits Hardest](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/who-the-layoff-tax-hits-hardest/)  ### Who the Layoff Tax Hits Hardest [READ MORE](https://time.com/partner-content/charter/who-the-layoff-tax-hits-hardest/) --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/ai-did-not-kill-the-entry-level-job-leaders-did-/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/partner-content/charter/ai-did-not-kill-the-entry-level-job-leaders-did-/"},"headline":"AI Did Not Kill the Entry-Level Job. 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