What happens when nobody does the dirty work?
Recently, I spent a workation in Paris, where I met a young guy working at a finance company as an accountant. It was during a social networking meet-up for expats and nomadic workers. Soon, our conversation turned to AI, as he was voicing his uncertainty about his role in the near future. He was mid-level management, and afraid that his job was going to be obsolete anytime soon. His worry? If entry-level jobs are taken by AI, who does he have to manage anymore? And, he said, more importantly: what happens when nobody is doing “the dirty work” anymore? How do you grow in your position, mature in your work experience, learn the nitty-gritty of your work, your coworkers, your company, and the field you’re working in? I hear a lot of these stories when talking to leaders and managers in organisations.
As one MIT Technology Review article puts it: “Entry-level jobs are part of the economy’s training system.” That article is one of two recent pieces in the magazine that have been somewhat underreported.
Where the numbers land
Yes, Big Tech wants you to believe the AI jobs revolution is already here. The reality is more nuanced. As the MIT Technology Review’s reality check piece points out, only one in five companies are using AI in any business function right now, and labour market disruption remains “largely speculative.” But here’s what’s not speculative: a Stanford Digital Economy Lab paper from February 2026 found that workers aged 22 to 25 in the most AI-exposed occupations experienced a 16% relative decline in employment after the spread of generative AI. More experienced workers in those same occupations did not suffer the same decline. The damage is specific, measurable, and concentrated exactly where you’d expect it: at the bottom of the ladder.
The training pipeline breaks
This is not just a matter for businesses. It affects society at large. What do people have to do who enter the job market now? And maybe even more urgent: how do we educate younger people for a future that is on our doorstep?
The Economist recently noted that “some workers will need not a new version of their current role but an entirely new job.” Salesforce maps employees’ skills to possible internal roles and recommends training—a glimpse of what response might look like.
As Technology Review puts it: “The time is now to make changes in the way we train, prepare, and support young people who are about to enter the workforce. Educational institutions need to reorient for the era of an AI-augmented workforce. Governments must incentivize businesses to hire and train early-career workers. Businesses, in turn, need to recognize the importance of developing a long-term workforce experienced in AI (…) In short, we must change the way we have traditionally thought of entry-level work.”
Who trains the seniors of 2036?
Georgios Petropoulos, an assistant professor at USC Marshall School of Business, calls for AI proficiency. I have worked with many educational organisations. Some are actively working on AI augmentation. Good! Some are opting out by default, choosing to put today’s students at a disadvantage when entering the job market. Frankly, this is negligence.
Yes, AI’s future is still uncertain and it is hard to make changes in the educational system. But we have to act now. Every student today is growing up in a world where AI is a natural part of work and daily life. If we want them to thrive, we need to start preparing them, not by chasing hype, but by asking better questions.
Making the move
If your educational organisation is ready to take that first step, my AI Jump Workshop is built exactly for this: a strategic, hands-on session that helps education teams move from curiosity to concrete action. It builds on my white paper “Rethinking Education in the Age of AI“, which lays out a comprehensive framework for what and how to teach when AI is part of every classroom. Because standing still is not an option. The career ladder starts at step two now. Let’s make sure your students can reach it.
Sources: It’s time to address the looming crisis in entry-level work, A reality check on the AI jobs hysteria (MIT Technology Review)
Written by Krispijn Plettenberg. Text editing and image production were supported by AI tools.
