I’ve recently heard two different stories that illustrate the stark differences in how AI is affecting the job market:
- One startup founder said he laid off two junior engineers. Now, he’s involved in coding himself (he has a background in software engineering) and uses GPT/Copilot. He mentioned that product development is much faster now compared to when he had the two junior engineers.
- Out of this year’s graduates from a top 50 computer science master’s program, only one person received a job offer upon graduation. One student applied to 60 companies and received zero interview requests—not zero job offers, but zero interviews.
It seems like AI is making experienced, senior professionals more effective at their jobs, reducing the need for junior employees. But if no one hires juniors, how can anyone become senior?
The job market continues to be very challenging. I hope this is just a short-term, interim phenomenon as we figure out how to integrate AI into the workforce. In the meantime, we might also see the rise of tiny companies, including one-person businesses or small (less than 3 people) startups.