Managers are throwing entry-level workers under the bus in race to adopt AI (www.theregister.com)

A new British Standards Institute (BSI) study finds business leaders are actively cutting or foregoing entry‑level roles in favor of AI adoption, even as measurable returns remain scarce. Surveying roughly 800 leaders across eight countries and reviewing annual reports from 123 firms, BSI reports 39% have already reduced junior headcount for AI, 43% expect further cuts in the next year, and 50% say AI is helping reduce staff. Meanwhile 55% consider those workforce disruptions an acceptable tradeoff. External research underscores the cautionary note: an MIT study found 95% of enterprises report zero ROI from AI projects, and IBM has seen 75% of CEOs still searching for concrete gains. Technically and culturally, the trend signals short‑term automation priorities over investment in human capital. BSI found “automation” appears nearly seven times more often than terms like upskilling in corporate reports, while 56% of leaders feel fortunate to have started their careers before AI—raising concerns about a lost pipeline of experience. The consequence is twofold: immediate displacement for early‑career workers (BLS data shows 9.2% unemployment for ages 20–24) and longer‑term risk that organizations will lack the trained talent and tacit knowledge needed if AI investments don’t pay off. BSI urges firms to pair technical adoption with training and to preserve uniquely human skills—creativity, empathy and collaboration—that machines can’t replicate.