Follow ZDNet: Add us like a preferred source On Google.
ZDnet’s most important take -away restaurants
- Tasks at entry level in fields that are susceptible to AI automation see a decline.
- Employees 25 and among his witness of the biggest decrease in employment.
- Jobs are stable or grow in fields where AI work (not automating) (not automating).
Software employees at entry level feel the victims of the AI tree, according to the Last findings of three Stanford Economists.
A new paper that evaluates the effects of AI on the workforce has followed millions of payroll administration of employees until July 2025 to offer a real -time picture of labor market fluctuations. Researchers discovered that the growth of employment for younger employees has been stagnating since 2022, when the use of AI began.
Also: use production companies AI to fill in labor shortages – but these human skills are still important
Employees aged 22 to 25 see the steepest decreases of employment with 12 points, to be precise in areas that are the most “AI-blown” or where AI automates tasks, such as software development or customer service. Software Engineer jobs for employees aged 22 to 25 fell by almost 20% in 2025 compared to their peak in 2022. Marketing managers and sales roles see a comparable decrease, but with smaller size. Older employees, on the other hand, continue to see job growth.
The economists offer a hypothesis why AI replaces younger employees instead of older ones.
“Due to the nature of the model training process, AI replaces codified knowledge, the ‘book learning’ that forms the core of formal education. AI may be less able to replace tacit knowledge, the quirky tips and tricks that accumulate with experience,” they write.
Also: will AI software replace? It depends on who you ask
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has made similar predictions that AI could lower in one to five years within the entry tracks, while bringing unemployment up to 20%.
However, the paper is not all downfall and gloom. Employment is more stable and grows in areas where AI increases work, rather than automating.
“In jobs that are less exposed to AI, young employees have experienced similar growth in employment with older employees,” the economists write. In jobs in the field of health aid such as nurses, psychiatric assistants and home health aids, the growth of employment with younger employees is faster than in older employees.
The paper nods into related research that paints a bleak picture of the prospects of young developers as a whole. It also raises questions about the role of higher education in a post-AI world. The economists noted that for professions with higher shares of graduates, employment in general decreases, but in professions with lower shares of graduates, employment increases. Furthermore, AI leaders themselves have acknowledged that AI tools, many coding can successfully automate, if Imperfect, at a much faster pace than people, threaten software engineering at a lower level as a profession.
Nevertheless, AI-generated code must usually be screened by human developers.
Also: Microsoft saves millions with AI and completes thousands- where are we going from here?
Americans hesitate about the use of AI and the findings of the newspaper reflect this fatigue. 71% of Americans fear that AI will move human employees, according to a study by Reuters and Ipsos.
