AI is raising the bar for entry-level jobs, according to a new analysis of global job advertising by PwC.
Employers in fields exposed to AI are increasingly seeking entry-level workers with skills traditionally expected of senior workers, such as emotional intelligence, judgment, and leadership.
The findings come from PwC’s 2026 AI Job Barometer, released on June 15, which analyzed more than 1 billion job ads worldwide.
An analysis of 2.4 million entry-level roles in the US found that roles exposed to AI were seven times more likely to list “traditionally advanced” skills compared to 2019.
Skills currently expected of junior staff include motivational leadership, team building, talent and stakeholder management, process management, mentorship, and data-driven decision-making.
PwC defined a skill as “traditionally advanced” if it appeared 50 or more times in experienced, non-entry-level, high-AI exposure jobs in 2019, but less than five times in entry-level, high-AI exposure jobs in 2019.
“The good news is that many junior employees don’t have to spend years doing heavy lifting on basic, repetitive tasks. The hard news is that those same employees need to step up quickly to develop skills such as leadership and strategic thinking,” PwC said in the report.
AI is increasingly capable of performing repetitive, data-intensive tasks that once occupied the majority of lower-level white-collar jobs. This shift has led to a slowdown in entry-level recruitment overall.
PwC’s AI Employment Barometer finds that entry-level jobs with exposure to AI are flattening globally. Business Insider reported in August that PwC itself would cut hiring of entry-level employees by a third in the U.S. over the next three years.
The report found that not all junior roles exposed to AI are shrinking in the U.S. job market, and those with higher skill expectations are thriving.
Entry-level jobs that were “upgraded” by exposure to AI, meaning they added 10 or more traditional advanced skills, increased by 35% between 2019 and 2025. Entry-level jobs exposed to non-advanced AI peers decreased by 10%.
The changing nature of work is also requiring companies to overhaul their training and talent programs to help young workers adapt.
PwC US introduced a new workplace training initiative in February, reducing the number of locations where entry-level consultants can work from 72 offices to 13.
Yolanda Shields-Coffield, chief people and inclusion officer at PwC US, told Business Insider in February that the isolation caused by COVID-19 and AI changing the nature of work have eroded some of PwC’s sense of connectedness, especially when it comes to learning and development for younger employees.