The Mistake Driving Entry-Level Extinction
Executive Summary
31% of companies now prioritize AI over entry-level hires in what's being called a Gen Z "job-pocalypse"
MIT research identifies five uniquely human capabilities (EPOCH model) that complement AI: empathy, presence, opinion, creativity, and hope
Only one-third of AI-adopting companies see real value—those fundamentally redesigning workflows, not just automating current tasks
Entry-level elimination reflects broader failure to reimagine work around human-AI collaboration
Technology doesn't replace humans—it changes what humans need to do to work with it
Analysts from Goldman Sachs recently coined a phrase for what is happening in the economy right now: jobless growth. GDP has been expanding, but job creation has flatlined. Entry-level hiring, in particular, has fallen off a cliff: one report shows 31% of companies now prioritizing AI over new hires, a shift that's being called the Gen Z “job-pocalypse.”
One headline captured the sentiment bluntly: “There's Just No Reason to Deal With Young Employees.”
Business leaders think they can eliminate entry-level jobs because they're defining work based on tasks AI should be able to automate. But these companies are solving the wrong problem, and they may come to regret it.
New research from MIT identifies five unique human capabilities that complement AI, rather than compete with it—a model researchers have given the acronym “EPOCH” for the skills it represents: empathy, presence, opinion (ethical judgment), creativity, and hope. Jobs requiring these capabilities are showing stronger employment outcomes, better hiring rates, and more favorable career projections right now.
But most companies reducing headcount aren't redesigning work around these capabilities right now. They're cutting based on job descriptions and org structures that haven’t been updated in decades.
We need a paradigm shift.
This isn't just about entry-level roles. It's about every role in the organization. What does a “manager” do when AI can handle reporting? What does an “analyst” do when AI can find patterns better? What does an “entry-level worker” do when AI can handle the grunt work? Most companies are busy eliminating these positions without considering what they should become. In the name of the future, they’re shrinking workforces based on how work looked in the past.
This entry-level extinction event is the canary in the coal mine. If companies refuse to invest in rethinking what work is for people at the start of their careers, they're definitely not going to rethink it for existing roles across the organization. Out of all AI-adopting companies, the ones seeing real value—only about a third according to recent research by McKinsey—are fundamentally redesigning workflows and organizational structures, not just automating what work looks like now.
This is the adoption paradox: contrary to the headlines, technology doesn't often replace the need for humans—but it does change what humans need to do to work with it. The organizations that will be successful in the future are the ones focused right now on building a new work paradigm, not on AI as a shiny new tool.
— Caleb
Ready to build an AI-ready organization? Contact 18 Coffees today.
