"AI taking away jobs" narrative reversal? IBM triples hiring of entry-level employees against the trend

Caixin News, February 14 (Editor: Shi Zhengcheng) Unlike the current mainstream narrative in the American tech industry that “AI will take away entry-level jobs,” the veteran tech giant IBM announced this week that the number of entry-level positions hired in 2026 will triple.

Although the company refused to disclose specific hiring numbers, it emphasized that this expansion will be “comprehensive” and will broadly impact various departments. A company spokesperson confirmed that IBM’s definition of entry-level positions includes recent graduates, individuals returning to the workforce, and those transitioning to new careers.

IBM Chief Human Resources Officer Nickle LaMoreaux confirmed this news at a public event in New York this week. She stated that, as AI is now capable of performing most tasks at the entry level, IBM has had to readjust many job descriptions and task structures, highlighting the unique value of junior employees in the AI era.

She said, “Two or three years ago, many of the entry-level positions set up by companies could now be performed by artificial intelligence. So, if you want to convince management that it’s necessary to continue investing in these people, you must demonstrate the real value they can now create—and that value must come from entirely different roles.”

LaMoreaux cited junior software engineers as an example, noting that most of their work in 2024 and 2025 will be coding. While entry-level software developers still write some code and perform testing with AI assistance, they are spending more time communicating with marketing teams and clients. They are also building innovative products, not just maintaining existing ones.

In HR departments, entry-level employees are more involved when HR chatbots cannot handle tasks, correcting errors and communicating with supervisors, rather than answering every question personally.

LaMoreaux also emphasized that, considering “AI can do the work,” significantly reducing entry-level hiring might save costs in the short term, but could lead to a shortage of mid-level managers in the future, ultimately forcing companies to poach talent from competitors. She pointed out that such external hiring is usually more expensive than internal development and takes time to adapt to corporate culture and workplace environment.

Her remarks are consistent with those of IBM CEO Arvind Krishna last year.

Krishna stated in July last year that artificial intelligence would generally have a positive impact on employment, as increased productivity would raise the demand for talent, though these roles might be slightly different. For example, most programming tasks would be automated, but human employees would spend more time reviewing code for quality control.

Besides IBM, some other tech executives also believe that increasing recruitment of entry-level employees in the AI era is necessary, for a straightforward reason—introducing young people who are “AI-native” is more advantageous for companies eager to seize AI transformation opportunities.

Dropbox Chief People Officer Melanie Rosenwasser pointed out that the company is expanding internships and recent graduate recruitment by 25% to leverage young employees’ proficiency in artificial intelligence.

Rosenwasser said, “It’s like they’re already participating in the Tour de France, while the rest of us are still learning to ride with training wheels. Honestly, in terms of skill level, they’ve already left us far behind.”