AI Job Crisis: How Entry-Level Tech Workers Are Fighting for Survival in the Age of Automation

In 2022, Rishabh Mishra joined a top engineering college in India's Jabalpur with a common tech dream: study computer science, code, and eventually reach Silicon Valley. Three years later, he faces a harsh reality.

Artificial intelligence has gutted entry-level roles in the tech industry that Mishra and his classmates were counting on. At the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, fewer than 25% of his 400 classmates have secured job offers. With his course ending in May 2026, panic is spreading on campus.

Listen: Rishabh Mishra describes how the reality of tech jobs is very different from what he was told.

"It is really bad out there," Mishra told Rest of World. "Everyone is so panicked — even our juniors. As the degree end nears, the anxiety is heightened among all of us." Some classmates are considering higher studies before entering the job market, but Mishra warns, "But after one year, if you return to the job market, your degree is even more irrelevant."

The Global "Jobpocalypse" for Entry-Level Tech Workers

Students at engineering colleges in India, China, Dubai, and Kenya are facing a "jobpocalypse" as AI replaces humans in entry-level roles. Tasks once assigned to fresh graduates, such as debugging, testing, and routine software maintenance, are now increasingly automated.

According to a report by SignalFire, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, the number of fresh graduates hired by big tech companies globally has declined by more than 50% over the last three years. Even with a slight hiring rebound in 2024, only 7% of new hires were recent graduates. Shockingly, 37% of managers said they'd rather use AI than hire a Gen Z employee.

"Even highly credentialed engineering graduates are struggling to break into tech."

Indian IT services companies have reduced entry-level roles by 20%–25% due to automation and AI, as reported by consulting firm EY. Job platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Eures noted a 35% decline in junior tech positions across major EU countries during 2024.

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 warned that 40% of employers expect to reduce staff where AI can automate tasks.

Changing Hiring Landscape and Employer Expectations

Vahid Haghzare, director at IT hiring firm Silicon Valley Associates Recruitment in Dubai, explained, "Five years ago, there was a real war for [coders and developers]. There was bidding to hire," with 90% of hires for off-the-shelf technical roles. Since the rise of AI, "it has dropped dramatically. I don't even think it's touching 5%. It's almost completely vanished."

While high-paying jobs at brands like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are rare, companies hiring recent graduates now expect "additional responsibilities," such as managing projects or leading sales. "They have to face the customer and have customer communications and maybe even do some selling," Haghzare said.

Some students, like Nishant Kaushik, who studied computer science in India, have shifted to seeking roles in sales or marketing. The rise of AI has also made engineering degrees less relevant, as workplace demands differ from college curricula.

The Need for Higher-Level Skills and Adaptation

Rita Sande Lukale, an electronics engineering student at the Technical University of Kenya, hoped to work in system architecture but has seen such roles disappear.

Listen: Rita Sande Lukale describes how AI has replaced humans in simple repetitive tasks.

Entry-level jobs like data logging, system diagnostics, or code writing have been replaced by AI. Fresh graduates now "must possess higher-level skills, necessary to understand algorithms and use engineering judgment to troubleshoot complex and automated systems," Lukale said. She doesn't see AI as a "job destroyer" but notes it has changed the type of engineers companies need.

Liam Fallon, head of product at GoodSpace AI, added that graduates are expected to use the latest tools efficiently and "up their output by 70% because 'they are using AI.'" This forces students to upskill outside the curriculum, as universities struggle to align with AI-driven industry demands.

Haghzare concluded, "The current system, where a student commits three to five years to learn computer science and then looks for a job, is 'not sustainable.' Students are 'falling down a hole, and they don't know how to get out of it.'"