In a recent NPR piece, reporter Lee V. Gaines looks at why many recent college graduates are struggling to find entry-level jobs and whether AI is responsible.
Gaines reports that the concern is real, but the evidence is mixed.
- Graduates profiled by Gaines describe sending hundreds of applications and receiving few offers.
- The numbers show that they are facing a tougher market. The New York Fed reported 5.7% unemployment among recent graduates ages 22 to 27 in June, compared with 4.1% across the workforce.
- Nearly half of recent graduates surveyed by ZipRecruiter, 47%, said AI had already affected hiring in their fields.
- Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson says AI is part of the problem. His research found a 16% relative employment decline among young workers in occupations exposed to AI since late 2022.
- Other economists are less convinced. Harvard economist David Deming says the decline in entry-level hiring began before ChatGPT and points to remote work as a more important factor. New York Fed research supports that view.
- University of Chicago economist Anders Humlum offers another complication: research on more than 21,000 companies found that firms making the biggest AI investments actually increased entry-level headcount by 12% over two years after adopting AI.
- The economists agree on one point: AI will change the workplace significantly, even if its impact on entry-level jobs today remains uncertain.
The immediate lesson is therefore more nuanced than “AI is taking graduates’ jobs.” AI may be changing the entry-level labor market, but today’s difficulties also reflect remote work, economic conditions and changing employer practices. The larger transformation is still unfolding.
Acknowledgement: This summary was generated using AI writing tools as part of my AI exploration process. For more information, check out the original article listed below.