In the artificial intelligence (AI) driven world, jobs are being consistently subjected to relevance tests and relegated or eliminated from the global workforce if possible. For many, entry-level jobs are the greatest victims of this elimination process.
This is largely because these roles may be uneasy, but they are repetitive and programmable.
Imagine Tola, a twenty-four-year-old fresh graduate, walked into a banking hall in Lagos with his freshly ironed suit and a folder of credentials. He had applied for an entry-level job: a customer service role, the kind of role that once served as the traditional first step for thousands of Nigerian graduates.
The response that followed broke Tola’s heart. Instead of being ushered to a desk for an interview, he was politely told that the bank no longer hires for such positions. Customer inquiries are now handled by an AI-powered chatbot available on WhatsApp. The bank’s app is also working 24/7 without breaks, salaries, or sick days.
For Tola and other young Nigerians in his shoes, it would be a rude awakening. The entry-level jobs they had dreamed of and prepared for through years of study had quietly vanished, swallowed by automation and algorithms.
While the threat is real and entry-level jobs are fast becoming scarce, conversations have surrounded the fate of young graduates in this dilemma.
There’s a reason these roles are tagged ‘Entry-level’; they provide the needed foundation for people with no work experience.
Entry-level jobs are the first jobs that teach aspiring professionals the basics of work life. They are usually the first step after graduation where young professionals learn skills, gain experience, and start building their careers. Such roles include customer service reps, bank tellers, sales assistants, or junior analysts.
As these roles are being wiped off by AI chatbots, software applications, and robotic systems, what does today (not even tomorrow) hold for young graduates? How are they expected to accumulate the first set of experience in the job market?
A report from SignalFire, a data-driven venture capital firm, suggests AI is responsible for a 25% decrease in the hiring of recent graduates by major tech companies, including Meta, Microsoft and Google. Not only the big giants, but even a “Teaching Assistant” role is now largely dominated by adaptive learning apps.
The report also highlighted that hiring of recent graduates by big tech companies fell 25% in 2024 and is down 50% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Also Read: How generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is leaking companies’ secrets.
Entry-level jobs
We must ask whether entry-level jobs are going into “extinction” or “redefinition”.
While “Extinction” implies disappearance, “Redefinition” speaks more about transformation. Traditional roles such as clerks, call centre agents, and tellers might be shrinking, but they’re birthing new entry-level jobs.
The difference now is that these roles require digital, analytical, and supervisory skills.
What AI has done is handle repetitive tasks. However, humans are still needed for oversight, emotional intelligence, and creativity in decision-making.
In the real sense, entry-level jobs might not be dying; they are evolving into tech-required skills that need something more than just being a ‘newbie’
Consider the following instances:
AI is practically transforming these roles to involve more oversight and less manual work. It’s a tech shift that is repositioning the face of entry-level jobs across various fields.
Employers now seek fresh graduates who can work alongside technology, oversee automated systems, and apply human judgment where machines fall short.
However, the above is not to say entry-level jobs or young graduates aren’t negatively affected in any way. As the workplace evolves, employees require new tech-driven skills to remain employable, as the number of entry-level is decreasing.
Also Read: The jobs of the future: AI skills that will be in demand before 2030.
By Technext
about 8 hours ago
