It’s a settled matter that now is not a good time to be an entry-level worker, but contrary to popular belief, that may not be the fault of AI.
What happened: A new paper argues that the rise of remote work is more to blame than AI for the pullback in hiring of entry-level knowledge workers.
The paper’s authors analyzed the CVs of 243 million new hires across the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, as well as hundreds of millions of job postings, to find the share of jobs going to entry-level workers.
They discovered that falling hiring rates for junior workers were associated with exposure to both remote work and AI, but that once you account for whether a job is in-office or remote, the apparent effect of AI disappears.
Why it’s happening: The authors theorize that employers are reluctant to hire entry-level workers for remote jobs, as it’s more difficult to train and manage them. In this telling, employers would rather hire someone more senior for remote jobs than struggle trying to get a junior hire up to speed through Zoom calls and Slack messages.
Why it matters: Remote work has its appeals, like avoiding stressful commutes and saving money on lunches, but it may be hurting the career prospects of younger workers.
There is a growing body of evidence (like this paper looking at software engineers) that, while remote work doesn’t reduce the productivity of more senior employees, it does have negative effects on people just entering the workforce, slowing their skills and network development.
Yes, but: The researchers don’t claim that AI won’t also hurt younger workers, only that it’s premature to blame the technology for the lousy job market they’re currently experiencing.—TS
