Artificial Intelligence is Destroying the Concept of Entry Level
I’ve observed a very troubling trend that I fear is not being talked about enough.
It is the fact that a decade from now, every corporate role might be Senior-level or above. The bar to obtain entry-level positions is raising because more and more functions that would be done by early career professionals can be done by leveraging technology. If you look at the majority of knowledge worker roles that need to be filled right now, you’ll find tons of Senior, Director, and Principal-level positions. Even those that don’t have “Sr” in the name still require 3–5 years of industry experience to be considered.
I first noticed it in my industry; marketing. The creative output that you would expect from a junior professional can be done using most AI copywriting tools, Canva, and increasingly AI video tools. You don’t need a team of 4 juniors to produce what a Senior can produce using their favorite suite of tools paid for by the company.
Pair that with the diminishing returns we’re starting to see from high-production content. If the cost to create effective creative work is decreasing(which is good), and it’s simultaneously becoming easier to create at scale, this affects entry-level professionals as well as solo/small agencies looking to prove value.
