Recent studies by Gartner and Anthropic, among others, continue to reveal workforce shifts that can create long-term damage to internal talent development.
Why it matters: By replacing many manual and/or repetitive tasks often carried out by entry-level employees, AI risks disrupting the traditional paths through which employees develop the experience, judgment, and leadership capabilities needed for senior roles. A lack of foresight and the rush to adopt AI for short-term productivity gains may come at the expense of long-term talent pipelines, leadership succession, and organizational capability.
Entry-level roles impacted: Gartner reported in July that 22% of CHROs stated that at least one business leader had stopped hiring for entry-level roles because of AI automation. Earlier this year, Gartner had also reported that 30% of enterprises are predicted to experience declining decision-making quality by 2030 as a result of overreliance on AI. At Anthropic, junior employees’ share of technical hiring has dropped from 27% to 9% since early 2025, while the company’s overall share of technical junior staff has dropped from 21% to 14%.
Leadership alignment and where CHROs can have impact: Gartner further reported this month that only 38% of CHROs and CIOs share an understanding of AI’s impact. The study urges CHROs to “help their CIOs navigate workforce readiness, adoption and organizational readiness,” and to not be relegated to a downstream implementor of change.
What CHROs should consider: While widespread employment displacement has not been established by these studies, there is growing evidence that AI is already reshaping job content, skills requirements, hiring decisions, and organizational processes.
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CHROs should consider redesigning early-career roles and development programs to accelerate skills acquisition through structured experiential learning, mentorship, AI-enabled simulations, and earlier exposure to complex work.
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Consider different approaches. Companies like Bank of America are expanding programs like their apprenticeship initiative to ensure the health of their talent pipeline.
