Although the artificial intelligence industry touts AI as replacing entry-level jobs, not all companies are scaling back on hiring for these positions. At IBM, we’re all in.
According to a report from Bloomberg, hardware giant IBM plans to triple its entry-level hires in the United States by 2026. Nickle Lamoreaux, IBM’s chief human resources officer, announced the initiative Tuesday at Charter’s Leading With AI Summit.
“And yes, all these jobs that AI is said to be able to do,” Lamoreaux said.
These jobs will be different from the entry-level jobs that IBM used to offer, she explained. Lamoreaux said she reviewed and changed these entry-level job descriptions to focus less on areas that AI could actually automate, such as coding, and more on people-focused areas, such as customer engagement.
This strategy makes sense. Even though companies like IBM don’t necessarily need the same amount of entry-level talent as before, developing less experienced employees helps ensure that these employees have the skills needed for higher-level roles in the future.
IBM did not say how many people it would hire for the effort. TechCrunch reached out to IBM for more information on its hiring plans.
This year could be a pivotal year in terms of how AI will impact the recruitment market. A 2025 MIT study estimates that 11.7% of jobs could already be automated by AI. A TechCrunch survey found that multiple investors believe AI could potentially start having an impact on the labor market as early as 2026, even though it wasn’t specifically asked about labor.
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