IBM Triples Entry-Level Hiring as AI Reshapes Junior Finance Roles

IBM plans to triple its entry-level hiring in the United States this year, a sharp reversal in a labor market where such positions have declined 35% since early 2023, the company announced this week.

The move signals how corporate America is rethinking—rather than eliminating—junior roles as artificial intelligence automates the repetitive tasks that traditionally defined entry-level work. For finance leaders navigating similar decisions about headcount and AI adoption, IBM's approach offers a template: hire more juniors, but radically change what they do.

Chief HR Officer Nickle LaMoreaux outlined the shift in job responsibilities that makes the expansion possible. Junior software developers at IBM will spend less time writing basic code—work increasingly handled by AI—and more time interfacing with clients. HR staffers will deploy chatbots to field routine employee questions, stepping in only when the technology reaches its limits.

The strategy reflects a bet that AI doesn't eliminate the need for junior talent so much as it changes the skills required on day one. "Today's entry-level employees are also tomorrow's managers," LaMoreaux said, framing the hiring push as a long-term talent pipeline investment rather than a short-term headcount decision.

IBM isn't alone in this calculation. Dropbox announced plans to expand its internship and new-graduate programs by 25%, with Chief People Officer Melanie Rosenwasser telling Bloomberg that younger workers demonstrate stronger AI fluency than most employees—a capability the company wants to capture and scale.

The broader labor market tells a different story. Entry-level job postings across the US have fallen 35% since early 2023, according to analytics firm Revelio Labs, as companies either automate junior work entirely or consolidate responsibilities into fewer, more senior roles.

The tension creates a strategic question for CFOs: does AI make junior roles obsolete, or does it make them more valuable by freeing new hires from grunt work to focus on judgment calls and client relationships? IBM's tripling of entry-level hiring suggests the company believes the latter, at least for roles that can be redesigned around AI-augmented workflows rather than replaced by them.

The practical challenge is execution. Rewriting job descriptions is straightforward; retraining managers to supervise AI-assisted juniors who spend more time in client meetings than Excel is harder. IBM's experiment will test whether companies can actually deliver on the promise that AI elevates rather than eliminates early-career work—or whether the hiring surge proves unsustainable once the operational reality sets in.

For finance leaders watching from the sidelines, the question isn't whether AI will change entry-level roles. It's whether your organization can move fast enough to capture the talent that still wants those jobs, before the 35% decline becomes permanent.