What about AI and jobs? IBM plans to hire 3x more entry-level employees this year
Despite growing fears that AI could replace early-career jobs, IBM plans to triple its entry-level hiring in 2026. The company says junior roles are not going away but changing, with a greater focus on working with customers and managing AI tools rather than routine tasks.
AI is disrupting jobs, with millions of workers already losing their roles to automation. However, not every company is holding off on hiring new graduates. Some are doubling and one of them is IBM, which has decided to triple its entry-level hiring in the US by 2026. International Business Machines Corp. plans to significantly increase its hiring this year, according to a Bloomberg report. The company reportedly hasn’t disclosed exact numbers, but says the hiring boost will be “across the board,” with new hires opening across multiple departments.
And according to IBM, this hiring will also include roles that many believe AI can already handle. “And yes, we’re being told that AI can do all these things,” said Nicole Lamoureux, IBM’s chief human resources officer, speaking at Charter’s Leading with AI summit in New York. Just because AI can automate parts of entry-level work doesn’t mean those roles should disappear, according to IBM’s people head. Instead, the company is choosing to hire more people, but in a different way.
IBM is reshaping jobs amid AI disruption
Nickel reportedly revealed that IBM has changed entry-level job descriptions to better reflect the AI age, particularly for software developers and other early-career roles. He suggests that amid rapid automation, the nature of junior jobs is fundamentally changing. “Most of the entry-level jobs that you had two to three years ago can be done by AI,” he said. So, with this change, IBM has also decided to change its focus.
For example, at IBM, junior software engineers are now reportedly spending less time on routine coding tasks, the kind of AI tools can efficiently handle, and more time working directly with customers. In HR departments, entry-level employees are stepping in when chatbots fall short, fine-tuning AI-generated responses and supporting managers instead of manually answering each question.
In short, while IBM is also getting involved in AI automation, it is not replacing workers. Instead, it’s reshaping what they do.
This hiring expansion by IBM comes amid growing concern over the future of entry-level jobs. Last year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that half of entry-level office roles could disappear by 2030. Just a week ago, xAI chief Elon Musk said that by 2026, coding will no longer be the primary job of software engineers. Several analyst reports have also suggested that companies are increasingly considering AI as an alternative to junior hires.
However, IBM’s leadership sees long-term risks in cutting the talent pipeline. According to its senior leadership, cutting back on early-career hiring may save costs today, but it could lead to a shortage of mid-level managers tomorrow.
And it’s not just in America. Even in India, entry-level hiring will not slow down as feared. Earlier, a report by staffing services firm TeamLease had said that Indian companies, including IT services firms, are expected to add 10-12 million jobs in 2026. In comparison, companies have hired 8-10 million freshers in 2025. According to reports, HR executives at companies like EY, Godrej Consumer Products, Diageo, Tata Motors and Motilal Oswal Financial Services are increasing recruitment with a focus on diversity and campus hiring.
