reduced hiring of emerging talent: a short-sighted mistake?

The rise of AI presents a critical challenge to nurturing the next generation of corporate leaders. By automating entry-level jobs, are companies unintentionally creating a "judgment gap" and jeopardizing their futures?  While 38% of employers plan to hire fewer graduates, leaders warn that removing these roles erodes the foundational experiences that build future executives. This article dives into the strategic divide facing CHROs globally. Learn the three key strategies for building a resilient, multi-generational workforce and securing the leaders of tomorrow.

As the corporate world continues to embrace AI, it’s created quite a paradox. Automation increasingly replaces tasks traditionally taken on by talent at the start of their careers. But with more of those entry-level jobs being replaced by AI, and fewer entry points to begin a career, are we shutting the door to emerging talent before they have a chance to realize their potential? And how can we develop the next generation of leaders, if they don’t have the opportunity to learn and grow from the bottom up?

There has become a strategic divide in how businesses approach the issue of entry-level hiring — and it’s a constant topic of conversation in my CHRO dinners. Many leaders voice concern that organizations are unintentionally removing the very roles that historically have built judgment, resilience and leadership capabilities. Leaders worry that, while AI can improve short-term productivity, the foundational experiences that develop future executives are eroding.

Although some companies are pulling back on entry-level hiring in response to AI, many more are continuing to focus on these roles or even expanding their early careers hiring. In any case, HR leaders must play a key role in addressing the emerging talent challenge: convincing their C-suite peers that entry-level roles are still crucial to creating a high-performing workforce today, while developing the leaders of tomorrow. 

view from the board

I hear from CHROs that their corporate boards are asking questions like, “Where is the ROI from AI?” or “Are we actually more productive because of AI?” But they’re not yet asking, “How are we building the next generation of leaders?”

What’s clear is that the AI conversation has moved from curiosity to expectation, with boards wanting to know what AI can do to reduce cost, increase speed and improve outcomes. Of course, the opportunity to do all those things is significant, but CHROs recognize the risk of treating AI mainly as a cost lever rather than a capability-building strategy.

While boards and investors are increasingly focused on measuring the productivity gains from AI, far fewer conversations are centered on the long-term implications of AI for talent pipelines. Several leaders note that, while AI investments are being scrutinized for near-term returns, the potential erosion of future leadership capability remains largely unmeasured — for now.

That’s why it’s so crucial that companies work today to recognize how their use of AI may impact future leadership pipelines, and develop an approach that embraces AI without shutting down their entry-level pathways.

the data: a cost-cutting retreat

Despite the risk, embracing automation to handle entry-level tasks in favor of hiring new talent can be an easy decision in terms of cost savings. And it’s backed up by data from Randstad’s 2026 Workmonitor research, which shows that 38% of employers plan to hire fewer graduates this year, compared to last year, due to AI. Employees sense this shift as well, with 41% of talent saying they worry that AI will cause entry-level jobs to disappear in the next five years.

Data shows that global job postings for entry-level roles (those requiring 0-2 years of experience) have dropped by 29% since January 2024, but it’s not across the board.

Many CHROs are bucking this trend, insisting that emerging talent remain a crucial aspect of their talent acquisition strategies to achieve agility and sustainability. Those who remain committed to hiring entry-level talent see doing so as a long-term play for resilience rather than a discretionary expense that can lead to significant issues down the line.

why keep entry-level roles

Eliminating entry-level roles is typically driven by short-term financial motives and the immediate productivity gains introduced by AI, rather than a strategic imperative. To drill down some more, there are three main concerns I often hear from CHROs.

1. 1. the judgement gap
      Several CHROs have expressed concern about replacing entry-level tasks or those that are in the weeds, like redlining contracts for lawyers or basic coding for software developers. Such tasks enable emerging talent to learn the foundational skills needed for their fields, and removing them prevents talent from gaining the professional judgment necessary for senior decision-making.
      
      Rather than replacing human value, in some ways, AI amplifies the gap between those who can apply judgment and those who can’t. A phrase I heard that captures it best is “you cannot automate discernment.” As access to knowledge becomes ubiquitous, the value shifts from what people know to how they think, how they decide and how they apply information in context.
      
      
   2. pipeline collapse
      Current trends can also cause a future leadership supply crisis. Reducing entry-level hiring and automating those entry-level tasks means that younger talent won’t get the experience and lessons of working their way to the top. Without the traditional growing pains, work challenges and learning how to adapt, it will be harder to nurture an individual’s potential and shape their capability as a leader. 
      
      
   3. the role of higher education
      Another area of concern is that colleges simply aren’t preparing students well enough with hands-on, decision-making experience. Many schools are still designed for a different era, preparing students for jobs that might not exist. In fact, one study found that 77% of college graduates say they learned more in the first six months at a job than they did during their education. With the half-life of technical skills being just two to five years, and curricula taking a decade or more to update, it’s clear that the current education system can’t keep up with the speed of change.
      
      

doubling (or tripling) down for resilience

Rather than taking the bait of immediate cost savings, forward-thinking companies are focused on maintaining their early-career roles, viewing them as an essential investment in future innovation and leadership readiness. IBM is a great example, having recently announced its plan to triple entry-level hiring. Acknowledging AI-driven efficiencies, the company is rewriting these roles. For instance, while software engineers can spend less time on coding due to AI, they’ll have more time to interact with customers and understand their needs. 

As more companies demand their teams use AI, it will be even more important to retain emerging talent. As they are typically more comfortable with AI and other technologies, they can serve as ambassadors to help their colleagues become more familiar with changing technology. At the same time, emerging talent can learn industry knowledge and soft skills from more experienced colleagues, ensuring their insights and know-how don’t leave the company once they retire.

There are also numerous benefits to having a multi-generational workforce. The Workmonitor data shows that 74% of talent rely on people from different generations to broaden their perspectives, while 95% of employers see having multi-generational teams as a productivity lever. The effects of removing the cohort of emerging talent and the eagerness they often bring to their first jobs remains to be seen. 

developing the next generation of leaders

Ultimately, the goal of CHROs should be to redesign work in a way that elevates human potential, while ensuring a steady flow of emerging talent ready to start their careers. Investing in emerging talent can pay dividends later on, by having a strong bench of potential leaders. To do so, consider these key strategies:

1. reconfigure entry-level jobs
To ensure a strong strategy to recruit and nurture emerging talent, it’s important to rethink entry-level positions with intention through a protect, redesign or replace mindset. This entails analyzing current entry-level roles and determining which are still essential to the business, which need to be completely rethought to ensure they remain relevant, and which can be replaced by other roles or AI. 

This exercise will ensure you’re not simply removing roles to save money, or unnecessarily filling certain roles because that’s what you’ve always done. Instead, it allows you to get the best of both worlds — a refined focus on how to employ emerging talent in ways they can have the biggest impact and growth, while still reaping the benefits of AI and automation.

What I’m hearing from CHROs currently involved in redesigning entry-level roles is that they’re reframing these positions from traditional task-focused roles to be orchestrators of human-AI workflows. Rather than conducting work themselves, early-career talent are increasingly expected to direct, validate and refine outputs generated by AI. 

2. provide ongoing development

In addition to rethinking roles, any emerging talent strategy should also have a solid plan to provide ongoing development. Regular conversations about goals and ambitions will be crucial, as are offering career coaching. But rather than the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to learning and development, ensure it’s targeted to the needs and concerns of early-career employees.

Another strategy to help emerging talent learn and grow on the job, which can also benefit more experienced colleagues, is a reverse mentorship program. Numerous HR leaders have mentioned how AI adoption is uneven across their organizations, with emerging talent more likely to use it. You can address this imbalance by pairing junior talent with co-workers and leaders, with the goal of allowing new talent to help their mentees learn about AI and other advancements while getting valuable face-time with their more experienced colleagues.

3. reopen entry-level pathways

Many CHROs are intentionally rebuilding the pipelines for new talent, only they’re shifting away from traditional entry-level corporate roles. Instead, they’re building programs centered on apprenticeships or other “earn and learn” methods that help ensure these roles are tied to real business needs. Such programs can help you shape the next generation of talent to achieve their full potential earlier, while setting them up for successful long-term careers.

building organizational resilience

The organizations that win in an AI-driven world will not be those that simply automate work faster. They will be the ones that deliberately design how humans learn, build judgment and grow alongside intelligence systems. 

As I’ve heard from so many CHROs lately, the real risk is not that AI replaces entry-level roles. The risk is that we remove the very experiences that create leaders in the first place.