AI is disrupting junior roles. While that may seem like a good thing, it’s actually not.

From the desk of Miles Everson:

Hello!

I’m excited to talk about another insight in the world of business for today’s issue of “Return Driven Strategy (RDS).”

For those of you who are not yet familiar with it, RDS is a pyramid-shaped framework with 11 tenets and 3 foundations. When applied properly, these principles help businesses deliver high levels of performance.

Today, we’re going to talk about the importance of junior roles and how AI has disrupted this crucial layer.

Continue reading below.

AI is disrupting junior roles. While that may seem like a good thing, it’s actually not.

AI is disrupting junior roles. While that may seem like a good thing, it’s actually not.

For decades, a wide variety of careers in Corporate America has followed a straightforward path.

Entry-level professionals start out their careers taking on simple tasks, getting mentorship, and developing skills while being provided with a clear path towards the acquisition of experience and know-how.

For businesses, this arrangement means they have access to a steady stream of talent at all levels of their organizations.

Unfortunately, this system has been upended by the introduction of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools that have been used to automate repetitive tasks traditionally assigned to entry-level employees.

The result?

It’s estimated that between late 2022 and July 2025, entry-level employment declined by around 20% in fields such as software development and customer service.

… but that’s not all.

Youth unemployment is on the rise in America, with rates reaching 10.8% last summer—the highest level since 2021, the year when the U.S. was still reeling from the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.

While leaning on automation may seem like a good idea and makes an organization look streamlined on the surface, it has the potential to negatively impact a company in the long run, especially as it relates to its workforce.

Junior Roles Giving Way to Automation

As previously mentioned, AI has seen widespread adoption because of its ability to automate routine tasks that traditionally belonged to junior workers. This includes tasks such as data entry, filing, research, and others.

… and more recently, advancements in AI have only worsened the situation for entry-level roles.

Earlier this week, Anthropic , the company behind the popular AI chatbot Claude , debuted Claude Opus 4.6, an AI model that’s capable of automating sophisticated professional tasks and coordinating whole teams of AI agents.

The latest iteration of Claude Opus has new plug-ins that have the ability to review legal contracts, perform tasks related to financial analysis, and other industry-specific tasks.

While this seemed like a positive development, not everyone received it positively.

Take Wall Street for example: Sell-offs ensued in the market because investors were worried about AI’s potential to replace software solutions. Companies like Salesforce saw their stocks dip by as much as 10%.

Claude Opus’ new capabilities are an appealing proposition to companies because they have the potential to create internal-use software solutions with just a few prompts—eliminating the need for software solutions that can cost companies thousands of dollars in subscription fees.

The far-reaching implications don’t end there, though.

Advanced AI models could enable companies to boost savings by automating tasks done by entry-level workers.

Disclaimer : We’re not saying AI adoption is a bad thing. When leveraged mindfully and strategically, AI can massively boost worker productivity and consequently, a company’s ability to deliver value.

The real problem lies in using AI to aggressively replace headcount, especially at the lower levels of an organization.

You see, entry- and junior-level roles provide organizations with the opportunity to train and develop internal candidates for more senior and crucial roles, transfer institutional knowledge, and build a more cohesive corporate culture.

With that in mind, if the junior layer is undercut severely, if not eliminated altogether, a company risks putting itself in a variety of problems long-term.

One of the most apparent consequences is a talent bottleneck. A firm would be forced to hire outside to replace the talent it loses due to a lack of suitable internal candidates.

… and as already mentioned, the junior layer is a breeding ground for the development of internal talent who could take on more crucial and sensitive roles.

In a world where junior roles are being eliminated, companies would be forced to compete with each other in hiring more experienced employees for important roles, leading to higher talent acquisition costs down the line.

Companies that lean on AI excessively also run the risk of losing out on innovative thinking. Junior workers are typically unburdened by legacy thinking and practices, making them instrumental in innovative thinking and activities.

While AI is good at doing grunt work such as researching, scraping information, cleaning data, and the likes, it cannot think the same way humans do. More importantly, it lacks the ability to spot irregularities that fall outside of training data and make important judgment calls.

The RDS Connection

The disruption in junior roles brought about by AI can also be explained through the lens of RDS.

According to Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo in the book, “Driven,” forces of change can be seen in scientific and technological breakthroughs.

Professor Litman and Dr. Frigo emphasized that when technological advancements arise, new ways of consumer behavior and doing things take shape. As changes occur, business models and strategies must adapt to escape obsolescence.

For the most part, technological advancements have brought progress and fostered innovations. However, as we’ve seen in today’s AI boom, not every development is a positive one.

Even though AI has elevated human productivity, it has also brought disruptions to human labor. And now, we’re seeing this play out in the realm of junior roles.

It’s clear that companies must adopt AI to survive in the present and in the long-term.

However, leadership teams must be wary of the pitfalls of excessive reliance on AI.

Sure, AI tools can help unlock higher levels of short-term profitability and cost savings; however, companies could expose themselves to risks down the line if they lean heavily on AI to replace human labor with automation.

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If you’re looking to gain a better understanding of Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy, we highly recommend checking out “Driven” by Professor Litman and Dr. Frigo.

Click here to get your copy and learn how this framework can help you in your business strategies and ultimately, in ethically maximizing wealth for your firm.

Hope you’ve found this week’s topic interesting and helpful.

Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s Return Driven Strategy!