8 in 10 hiring managers say recent grads will get laid off due to AI

More bad news for recent college graduates, a cohort that’s reported relatively high levels of job market pessimism this year. According to a new study from Intelligent.com, 78% of hiring managers say their company will layoff recent graduates due to AI use. Sixty-nine percent said they believed AI could do the work of a recent graduate, respectively.

The study, which was carried out by Pollfish and surveyed 804 U.S. hiring managers, shows that the magnitude of expected layoffs varies across companies. Twenty-three percent of managers reported that less than 3% of recent college graduates would be laid off for reasons related to AI. Twenty-seven percent put that number between 5% to 10%, and 11% said 15% to 30%. Another 11% answered that 30% to 60% would lose their jobs. Finally, 6% of managers said that 70% would be laid off.

Recent graduates are particularly vulnerable

According to Huy Nguyen, Intelligent’s Chief Education and Career Development Advisor, the kind of work recent graduates typically do makes them particularly vulnerable to AI. “Many recent graduates are hired to fill entry-level roles that involve information-related tasks such as research, data entry, customer service, and general office assistance. While these entry-level positions provide people entering the workforce for the first time with crucial experience, they are also the ones that are most easily replaced by artificial intelligence.”

“While AI can’t fully replace the critical thinking and innovative problem-solving that humans provide, it can certainly take over many of the routine and repetitive tasks that newly-hired graduates are assigned. This makes recent graduates among the most vulnerable for having their roles consolidated or even eliminated through wide-spread AI adoption.”

Related: Advancing with AI: How employers can maintain a competitive workforce

Internships at risk too

Internships, often an important first step in a young person’s career development, have also likely been negatively impacted by AI. According to the study, 5% of respondents said they’d stopped offering internships. Of that group, 78% canceled their internship programs within the last two years. What’s more, 70% of respondents said that AI could do the jobs of interns, and more than half said they trusted AI over interns and recent graduates.

AI is a valued skill

Young people intent on keeping their jobs or getting hired in the near future would be wise to embrace AI. According to the study, 95% of managers are more likely to hire a recent graduate with a background in AI.