The way in is closing
AI is changing work fastest at the bottom rung, where people learn the judgement that senior roles depend on. This is the evidence, with its limits.
Checked on 19 October 2026.
Junior roles as a share of technical hires at Anthropic, an AI company describing its own hiring.
AnthropicUK graduate vacancies in a year, down to 8,383 in July 2026, the lowest since Adzuna began tracking in 2016.
Adzuna, via IBTimesUK employers that have cut entry-level jobs, in a survey of 1,001 firms. 73% say it is harder for young people to find work than five years ago.
Work Foundation and SurvationWhat the sources say
Anthropic. Junior roles fell from 27% to 9% of the company's technical hires, and the junior share of its technical staff fell from 21% to 14% since early 2025. About a third of its machine learning managers and a fifth of its software engineering managers said they were hiring less because of AI. Its hiring managers "increasingly emphasize autonomy and judgment, relative to technical domain expertise". It is one AI company describing itself, and its authors say their own measures don't directly address the slowdown in junior hiring. Read the report.
Graduate vacancies. Adzuna listed 8,383 UK graduate vacancies in July 2026, down 45.6% from 15,397 a year earlier and the lowest since it began tracking in 2016. Its co-founder called it "a step backwards, not a blip". The same report points to a survey of finance chiefs that blames cost control, not AI. Read the coverage.
Employers. In a Survation survey of 1,001 UK businesses for the Work Foundation, 36% had cut entry-level jobs: 24% of small firms, and 48% and 46% of medium and larger ones. Among larger firms, 58% and 60% said AI and automation had reduced the jobs available. 73% said it is harder for young people to find work than five years ago. Read the coverage.
Young people. 981,000 people aged 16 to 24, 13.0% of the age group, were not in education, employment or training in April to June 2026. That was 30,000 fewer than the quarter before, and 30,000 more than a year earlier. Read the ONS bulletin.
What it means
- For organisations: cut the entry level now and there is no one to promote later. Judgement is learned on the way in.
- For parents: the first job may ask for judgement before it teaches it. Attention and consent at home are part of the answer.
- For people starting out: autonomy and judgement are what employers say they hire for. Both can be practised.
- For government and funders: fewer first rungs show up later as NEET numbers, skills gaps and weaker social value.
What Built Around Us does about it
Every person on a Built Around Us programme finishes by teaching someone starting out, and part of every fee pays for places for new entrants. To partner on the first new-entrant places, join the waiting list (opens in a new tab).