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Opinion

Corporates cutting junior hires will regret it

Eric Francia, CEO & co-founder of Uniplay, discusses the benefits of making junior hires at a time when businesses are shutting down entry level recruitment.

Opinion
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Finding your first job has always been a precarious task. But never so precarious as it seems to be today. Changing attitudes to the value of university degrees and high demand for dwindling job roles in the artificial intelligence (AI) era have created a perfect storm for career beginners.

One in three UK employers have cut entry level jobs in the past year due to AI, while McKinsey reports 51% of organisations say automation is reducing their need for entry-level roles. In the UK over one million young people are currently not in employment, education or training, but this is only the third highest figure in Europe, behind Italy and Lithuania. It is clear that across the continent those seeking junior roles are paying the price of an uncertain future of work.

Short term gain, long term pain

Big companies may not feel the cost of turning their back on entry level hiring now, but they will feel it acutely in a decade.

These companies are forgetting that junior talent is the foundation of any organisation. No junior hires now will mean no experienced leaders to fill senior roles later.

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Skipping a cohort of hiring will cost companies the momentum and accumulated capability that year would have built in their workforce. But that is not the only thing your company needs junior hires for.

Adaptability is the ultimate skill

AI has turned the workplace on its head. Company structures are changing, and so is the work that we do. Everybody is a beginner again. The advantage lies with those who are able to adapt and learn the fastest.

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The curiosity of a beginner is exactly what makes them so valuable. When you are learning something new, you are engaged. You test everything out, you come back to things, you notice what doesn’t work, and you challenge them.

 The World Economic Forum has said that 59% of employees will need to reskill by 2030 due to AI. As most of us are forced to adapt to new ways of working, experience will matter, but a willingness to learn is more important.

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Discarding junior hiring is a surefire way to cut off innovative thought within your company. AI has lowered the barrier for non-technical people, and knowledge is accessible in a way it has never been before. AI-native junior hires are often the first to challenge outdated ways of doing things and develop creative new solutions.

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Employers should be actively looking for what candidates have built on the side. A website or app can be “vibe-coded” with no previous experience, and skills can be automated rather than taking months to learn. Plenty of young people are building things on their own initiative.

Build autonomous humans, not just autonomous systems

An AI-enabled company does not have to just mean autonomous systems. We should strive to build autonomous humans with the technology, and junior hires are a key part of that.

Young people AI-native juniors are often better creative problem solvers. They intuitively adapt to new ways of working and can figure things out without needing micromanagement, if given the space to do so. A junior hire at Uniplay proved himself six weeks into the job with a fully automated sales channel.

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Every major technological shift opens up new job opportunities. Jobs that are exposed to AI will give way to new ones. Junior hires remain indispensable to business longevity. For the tables to turn, it only takes a shift in perspective amongst senior hirers.

Young people are curious, quick to adapt, and often have a better understanding of where the world is heading than many business leaders. Corporates cutting junior hires will regret it once they look up and realise the next generation of talent is working for someone else.

Eric Francia is CEO and co-founder of Uniplay

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