New Report Examines How AI Is Reshaping Entry-Level Hiring

A new national report from Strada Institute for the Future of Work examines how artificial intelligence is shaping entry-level hiring — from how employers expect hiring volumes to change to the skills and experience they value most in candidates.

The report, Entry-Level Hiring in the AI Era: What Employers Are Thinking (and Doing), draws on a survey of nearly 1,500 executives and senior talent leaders conducted in spring 2026, representing a wide range of industries and company sizes.

AI Is Increasing Entry-Level Hiring More Than It Is Reducing It

Among employers that have at least explored using AI, 46 percent reported an overall increase in entry-level hiring in 2025, compared to 13 percent reporting a decrease. For 2026, 46 percent of employers anticipate a positive impact from AI on hiring, while 17 percent anticipate a negative impact. Those patterns held across industries and employer sizes.

Among employers that reported at least one factor significantly increasing entry-level hiring, 27 percent identified their organization’s greater use of AI as the single most important positive factor — the most frequently cited positive driver.

How a Company Uses AI Shapes the Outcome

The report finds a clear difference between employers seeing hiring growth and those seeing reductions.

Companies with a clear, company-wide plan for using AI are more likely to report increases in entry-level hiring, higher satisfaction with the quality of entry-level hires, and an expectation that hiring will get easier in 2026. Companies that have only partially integrated AI — primarily using it to automate routine tasks — are more likely to report reductions in entry-level hiring.

Among employers that reported reductions, administrative and data entry roles saw the greatest decline, followed by customer support and data analytics. The report notes there is considerable overlap between the roles increasing at some firms and decreasing at others — reflecting how differently companies are approaching AI adoption.

Entry-Level Work Is Changing, Especially in Technology and Manufacturing

Among employers that have at least explored using AI, 42 percent report that analytical and judgment-based responsibilities are growing for entry-level employees, while 41 percent report that routine or administrative tasks have been reduced. Only 20 percent say AI has not meaningfully changed the mix of tasks for their entry-level staff.

That shift is most pronounced in technology and manufacturing, where 60 percent and 51 percent of employers respectively report an increase in analytical and judgment-based responsibilities at the entry level.

What Employers Are Looking For

When evaluating entry-level college graduates, employers rate critical thinking and communication as the most important skills, each scoring 4.3 out of 5 for importance. AI literacy ranks last at 3.5.

Work experience is identified as critically important more often than any other factor in final hiring decisions, with 39 percent of employers rating it as critically important. A bachelor’s degree ranks as the most important education credential, with 25 percent of employers rating it as critically important, followed closely by industry certifications at 21 percent. When presented with distinct candidate profiles, employers show a clear preference for candidates with direct work experience, an industry internship, or project-based experience relevant to the role. A candidate with a 4.0 GPA and academic awards but no work history ranked as the least preferred profile.

The report also finds that math-intensive STEM graduates are the most difficult for employers to recruit at the entry level, with 29 percent of employers ranking them as the hardest to attract for both generalist and specialist roles.

Looking Ahead

While interest in alternatives to the bachelor’s degree is growing, the report finds that the core skills most often associated with a college education remain paramount to employers. As the report notes, one of the most notable aspects of the early AI era is how little the hierarchy of essential skills has changed.

The report points to entry-level jobs remaining a starting point for careers, even as what those jobs require continues to change.

The full report is available at strada.org: https://www.strada.org/news-insights/entry-level-hiring-in-the-ai-era-what-employers-are-thinking-and-doing.

For additional information on hiring trends in Kentucky and the U.S., visit kychamber.com/economy.