Tech industry stalling as AI takes over, with junior roles cut in half (www.techradar.com)

New reports show a rapid collapse in entry-level tech hiring as AI takes over routine work. The Institute of Student Employers says UK tech graduate roles fell 46% from 2024 with a further 53% drop projected by 2026, while the Stanford Digital Economy Lab finds entry-level tech job postings down 67% between 2023–2024 and a 13% employment decline for 22–25 year‑olds since late‑2022. Employers cut overall hiring by about 8% in 2024/25 with another 7% predicted, and many firms are prioritizing experienced hires or using AI to handle basic coding, automation and data‑analysis tasks. Large firms including Amazon, Intel and Microsoft have also run multiple layoff rounds, amplifying short‑term contraction. For the AI/ML community this signals both efficiency gains and systemic risks: automation reduces the need to train juniors on basic pipelines and tasks, but it also threatens the talent pipeline needed to replace retiring experts and to maintain complex systems. Technical implications include heavier reliance on foundation models and tooling, potential accumulation of technical debt if fewer engineers learn core practices, and a rising need for roles that supervise, validate and fine‑tune AI outputs. The situation increases urgency for structured reskilling, apprenticeships and hiring policies that blend AI augmentation with intentional on‑the‑job training to sustain long‑term capacity in AI/ML engineering.