- Younger workers hardest hit by job layoffs, study finds
- Tech sector particularly affected, with AI bringing big changes
- Businesses look to hire older workers, "turning talent pyramids into diamonds"
Younger workers and those looking to enter the workforce could soon struggle even more to find a job as bosses increasingly turn to AI tools for entry-level tasks, new research has warned.
The global CEO study by consulting firm Oliver Wyman found employers are set to focus on hiring for more senior roles, even as most plan to keep staff levels as they are, or even lay off workers.
Instead, AI assistants, agents and chatbots will be used to complete those basic or menial jobs which until now have been the learning fodder for new workers.
Job struggles
Overall, it was bad news for the technology sector, which the report found was the hardest hit by global job cuts, as nearly three-quarters (74%) of CEOs said they are either freezing or reducing headcount, up from 67% the previous year.
Bigger companies were more likely to make cuts, the study found, with 39% of "mega-size" companies planning reductions versus 28% of smaller ones.
And younger workers are taking the brunt of the punishment, as the number of CEOs saying junior roles are set to be reduced over the next year or two has doubled (to 43% from 17%) since 2025 - and shockingly, only 17% of CEOs said they would be shifting focus to hire more junior positions.
Instead, CEOs are looking to hire older workers, the report found, with around 30% saying they are shifting hiring to more mid-level roles - up from only 10% the previous year - turning the "talent pyramids into diamonds", the report says.
So is AI to blame? The study found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the technology was a major priority for most CEOs, as more than 90% said they are deploying AI in their companies - with over two-thirds (67%) still at the planning or pilot stages.
“Notably, the CEOs with the longest planning horizons are the most likely to plan headcount reductions,” the report says. “That suggests they expect a structurally leaner organization not as a cost measure but as the destination — the endpoint of an AI-augmented operating model that requires fewer people, deployed differently.”
"But this calculus carries risk," it adds, "Headcount reduction that outpaces meaningful AI deployment can leave organizations exposed, and overreliance on systems that are still maturing introduces its own vulnerabilities. The harder question — one with which many CEOs are still grappling — is what their talent pipeline and company culture will look like in three years if the investment in junior employees is not made today."
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