Employment for recent college grads in AI-exposed sectors dropped 6% while older workers saw job growth.

Question

A recent study showed that for workers aged 22-25 in sectors most exposed to AI automation (such as programming, sales, administrative support), employment dropped about 6 % during the study period, while older workers (ages 25-34) in those same sectors saw job growth of 6-9 %. CBS News+1 For college students nearing graduation, this claim is very relevant: it speaks to shifting job-market dynamics and how emerging technologies may be affecting early-career opportunities differently.

However, the claim requires nuance: the sectors were “AI‐exposed” rather than all sectors, and employment shifts may be influenced by multiple factors (economic downturn, pandemic after‐effects, changing hiring practices) not just AI. So while the drop and contrast are real in the data, attributing them solely to AI would be misleading.

Answer 1

Ok so this is actually a really interesting topic. There's this thing that has been spread to a lot of JCOM college students like how entry level jobs are being taken by AI meaning a gap between the new work force and the old one is growing even wider. An article by The Wall Street Journal says "  When AI automates routine tasks, organizations often find they need experienced employees who can combine AI capabilities with years of business knowledge. What those organizations don’t need is entry-level employees learning the basics. Data shows rising unemployment since 2022 among 22- to 25-year-olds in AI-affected sectors—even while employment for older workers remains stable". While there are probably dozens of articles that can tell you this information is actually hard to personify the effect of AI because when looking at the actual graph of the unemployment rates. we are in a pretty average spot when comparing to past years. The graph shows a trend of moving up a bit then down a bit. The only true outlier on the graph is the covid pandemic. But from what I can tell it seems to be widely the consensus that AI is the one causing this bump in unemployment

https://prlab.co/blog/pr-trends-2026/

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS14000036

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/ai-means-the-end-of-entry-level-jobs-6b268661?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink