When AI disrupts entry-level work, will we be ready?

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report

Episode: When AI disrupts entry-level work, will we be ready?
Date: July 6, 2026
Host: Sabri Ben-Achour (in for Kimberly Adams)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the state of the U.S. job market in the era of accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, honing in on the anxiety and questions surrounding entry-level jobs. Specifically, it examines whether AI displacement is already at play and what educators, companies, and policymakers should do to prepare for its transformative impact on the entry-level workforce. The Marketplace team also brings listeners up to speed on current economic news, including OPEC’s latest moves and their impact on oil prices.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

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1. Oil Production and Prices

Guest: Julia Coronado, Founder, Macro Policy Perspectives & Professor at UT Austin

[01:30–03:33]

• OPEC's Decision: OPEC voted to increase oil production, usually meant to lower oil prices.
• Current Situation: Despite increased production, oil prices are already down from wartime highs.
  • "Brent crude is at $72 a barrel. At one point during the war, it was briefly at $126 a barrel." (Sabri Ben-Achour, 01:40)
• Backlog Issue: There is still a major backlog in oil supplies, with ships and oil waiting to be processed.
• Short-Term Effects: Increased production will have some impact, but normalization will be gradual.
  • "It’s expected that it’s going to take some time for oil supply to normalize and even then it will be subject to tolls and more volatility." (Julia Coronado, 02:47)
  • Gas prices may not return to prewar lows, but the market is stabilizing.

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2. The "Low Hire, Low Fire" Job Market

[04:58–05:46]

• Market Description: Companies aren’t firing or hiring much, making it hard particularly for new entrants.
  • “If you’re looking for a job, man, it is rough out there.” (Sabri Ben-Achour, 05:06)
• June Jobs Report: Only 57,000 jobs added, much lower than previous months and pre-pandemic levels.
• Entry-Level Challenges: Toughest for recent grads and those seeking entry-level roles.

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3. Is AI Already Taking Entry-Level Jobs?

Reporter: Samantha Fields
Guests: Sean McGowan (Carnegie Mellon), Molly Kinder (AI & labor researcher), Kenneth Henderson (Northeastern University)

a) Myths vs. Reality
[05:46–06:32]

• Contrary to popular belief, no evidence from federal data that AI is erasing entry-level jobs en masse—yet.
  • “There is no evidence in federal data that AI is eliminating entry level jobs or any jobs en masse, at least not yet.” (Samantha Fields, 05:46)
• Career advisors at leading universities confirm a steady market for grads, with an uptick in AI-related roles.
  • “We are seeing a shift to like AI engineers, AI scientists, AI researchers.” (Sean McGowan, 06:16)

b) Looming Disruption in the Medium/Long-Term
[06:26–07:20]

• Experts predict disruptive impact in the next 5–10 years, with entry-level work especially vulnerable.
  • “We’re probably underestimating how transformative it will be in the medium to long term.” (Molly Kinder, 06:26)
  • "I don’t know what a young person who’s a current college student who has no work experience could possibly do for me that AI couldn’t do itself." (Molly Kinder, 06:53)
• Sectors cited: Research, finance, consulting, coding.
  • “Our whole model of training people is going to collapse if we don’t intervene. And as a society, and especially in Washington, we are woefully underprepared for this.” (Molly Kinder, 07:08)

c) Rethinking Early Career Experience
[07:20–08:47]

• Suggestion for proactive strategies: Government, colleges, and companies must develop new pathways for young people to gain work experience.
• Northeastern University’s Co-op Model:
  • Students spend significant time in professional settings during school, often resulting in better job placements and higher starting salaries.
    • “Students are coming out with actually a year, maybe 18 months of experience before they start the job.” (Kenneth Henderson, 08:01)
  • Rising interest from other institutions; AI is accelerating this trend.
    • “The door is getting knocked on on basically a daily basis…There’s way more interest in this space than there has been ever in the past, and I think AI is accelerating that.” (Kenneth Henderson, 08:16)

d) New Models for Training

• Molly Kinder proposes white-collar careers look to the medical residency system, paying trainees while they learn, with funding from philanthropy, government, and private sector.
  • “My big idea is white collar careers should look toward the medical residency model, which is just a completely different way of developing talent.” (Molly Kinder, 08:47)

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Notable Quotes

• “There is no evidence in federal data that AI is eliminating entry level jobs or any jobs en masse, at least not yet.”
  — Samantha Fields, 05:46

• “I don’t know what a young person who’s a current college student who has no work experience could possibly do for me that AI couldn’t do itself.”
  — Molly Kinder, 06:53

• “Our whole model of training people is going to collapse if we don’t intervene. And as a society, and especially in Washington, we are woefully underprepared for this.”
  — Molly Kinder, 07:08

• “It’s on us as educators to ensure that we adapt very quickly, not in decades, but actually in weeks and months.”
  — Kenneth Henderson, 07:36

• “My big idea is white collar careers should look toward the medical residency model, which is just a completely different way of developing talent.”
  — Molly Kinder, 08:47

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Key Takeaways

• AI’s Impact Is Still Unfolding: No mass replacement of entry-level workers yet, but seismic changes are expected within the next decade.
• Entry-Level Work Is Vulnerable: Many entry-level tasks are already being performed by AI in some fields and may soon be automatable in others.
• Urgency for New Training Models: Traditional pathways like unpaid internships may be obsolete soon; co-op programs and paid, apprenticeship-like models may be necessary.
• Multilateral Responsibility: Solutions must come from policymakers, educational institutions, and private industry in partnership.

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Oil Market Update with Julia Coronado – 01:30–03:33
• Current Job Market & June Jobs Report – 04:58–05:46
• AI & Entry-Level Jobs: Data & Concerns – 05:46–07:20
• Education Innovations & Future of Work Training – 07:20–08:54

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Useful for:
Listeners who want to understand the current landscape of AI-driven employment changes, challenges facing new job seekers, and solutions being considered by educators and policy experts.

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End of summary.

Transcript

[Optum Narrator]

Okay, let's get real about healthcare for a second. I think we can all agree it doesn't always work the way it should. If you've ever waited on a prescription refill or had a hard time getting the care you needed, you know what I mean? The system should just work better for everyone. That's exactly what the people at Optum are trying to do every day. They're a healthcare company linking patient care and pharmacy services and using data and technology to drive the whole system. So care is connected, not complicated for patients and providers. Things like making it easier to get care that looks at the whole person. From primary care doctors to mental health support, and even in home care. And then using technology to make sure they all work together. Technology designed to help doctors spend less time on busy work and more time with their patients and those prescriptions. Optum is bringing costs down, saving patients money and making it easier to get refills. Little by little, Optum is helping make healthcare work as one for everyone. Head to business.optum.com to see how.

[Marketplace Host]

This podcast is supported by Raymond James, a financial firm offering wealth management, banking and capital market services that are inspired by people before Raymond James. Financial Advisors build plans, they build relationships so they can craft individual strategies designed to achieve priorities and and pursue what's possible. That's the power of personal [e-mail] Raymond James and Associates Inc. Member NYSE SIPIC

[Sabri Ben-Achour]

oil is flowing again. How long till it really hits the pump though? From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Ben Assure in New York in for Kimberly Adams. OPEC over the weekend voted to increase or and usually it does this to lower oil prices. But the price of oil is already way down from its wartime highs. Brent crude is at $72 a barrel. one point during the war, it was briefly at $126 a barrel. So as oil production comes back online, what can we expect at the gas pump? Julia Coronado is here to talk about that and more. She's founder of Macro Policy Perspectives and a professor at UT Austin. Hi Julia.

[Julia Coronado]

Good morning.

[Sabri Ben-Achour]

You know, prices are already falling. Oil prices. Why increase output of oil now?

[Julia Coronado]

Well, there's always the announcement effect. It's sometimes symbolic with OPEC because there's not always follow through. But it's an indication of the intention to keep supply rolling and to keep prices in the range that we've seen

[Sabri Ben-Achour]

them fall to recently because there's still a major backlog. You know, a lot of ships, a lot of oil backed up that still need to get out of the strait increasing production, can that really make a difference in the short term?

[Julia Coronado]

Makes somewhat of a difference. We're seeing oil futures land at a level that is still higher than before the conflict, but certainly a lot better than at the peak of the war. So it's expected that it's going to take some time for for oil supply to normalize and even then it will be subject to tolls and more volatility. So I don't think we're going all the way back to where we were, but we're certainly seeing some normalization in future. So expectations that that flow is going to be improved for a while, but again, we probably won't get all the way back down to pre war levels of gas prices.

[Sabri Ben-Achour]

Julia Coronado, Founder and President of Macro Policy Perspectives thank you so much as always.

[Julia Coronado]

My pleasure.

[Optum Narrator]

Okay, let's get real about healthcare for a second. I think we can all agree it doesn't always work the way it should. If you've ever waited on a prescription refill or had a hard time getting the care you needed, you know what I mean? The system should just work better for everyone. That's exactly what the people at Optum are trying to do every day. They're a healthcare company linking patient care and pharmacy services and using data and technology to drive the whole system so care is connected, not complicated for patients and providers. Things like making it easier to get care that looks at the whole person, from primary care doctors to mental health support and even in home care. And then using technology to make sure they all work together. Technology designed to help doctors spend less time on busy work and more time with their patients and those prescriptions. Optum is bringing costs down, saving patients money and making it easier to get refills. Little by little, Optum is helping make healthcare work as one for everyone. Head to business.optum.com to see how economists

[Sabri Ben-Achour]

call it the low hire, low fire job market. Everyone else probably has more colorful language for it, but bottom line, if you have a job, you're probably good. Knock on wood. Companies aren't firing that much on the whole, but they're not hiring that much either. So if you're looking for a job, man, it is rough out there. Look no further than the jobs report for June. Just 57,000 jobs added, less than half of pre previous month's numbers has been particularly hard for recent college grads and entry level workers. And hovering over all of this is anxiety around artificial intelligence and whether it has already started taking those jobs. As Marketplace's Samantha Fields reports The data suggests we're not quite there yet actually, but that does not mean we shouldn't be planning for it.

[Samantha Fields]

Contrary to what some headlines might have you believe, there is no evidence in federal data that AI is eliminating entry level jobs or any jobs en masse, at least not yet. Sean McGowan doesn't see evidence of that either in his work at Carnegie Mellon University's Career and Professional Development Center.

[Marketplace Host]

When I look at the macro, I haven't seen a change of like, there's less students getting jobs and things like that. It's been still very strong.

[Samantha Fields]

If anything, he sees more students getting AI related jobs.

[Marketplace Host]

We are seeing a shift to like AI engineers, AI scientists, AI researchers.

[Samantha Fields]

It is still early days of AI adoption. ChatGPT hasn't even been around for four

[Molly Kinder]

years yet, but we're probably underestimating how transformative it will be in the medium to long term.

[Samantha Fields]

Molly kinder researches AI in the labor market.

[Molly Kinder]

When I look out at the next five to 10 years, I have a lot of concern that AI could be

[Samantha Fields]

extremely disruptive, especially when it comes to entry level work. Already in certain fields, like her world of research, she says AI can do the work of an intern or a research assistant.

[Molly Kinder]

I don't know what a young person who's a current college student who has no work experience could possibly do for me that AI couldn't do itself.

[Samantha Fields]

And kinder says this is true or could be soon of entry level work in lots of fields. Finance, consulting, coding.

[Molly Kinder]

Our whole model of training people is going to collapse if we don't intervene. And as a society, and especially in Washington, we are woefully underprepared for this.

[Samantha Fields]

She thinks the government, colleges and companies all need to be more proactive in coming up with big ideas and potential solutions to get young people early work experience. Kenneth Henderson, chancellor of learning at Northeastern University in Boston, is thinking about this all the time.

[Marketplace Host]

It's on us as educators to ensure that we adapt very quickly, not in decades, but actually in weeks and months.

[Samantha Fields]

Northeastern already does things differently than most colleges. It has a co op model where students in all majors spend a chunk of their time in school working at different companies. And he says lots of students get jobs out of co op with higher starting salaries than the average college graduate.

[Marketplace Host]

And that is very much related to the students are coming out with actually a year, maybe 18 months of experience before they start the job.

[Samantha Fields]

Over the years, Henderson says other colleges have reached out periodically to learn more about the co op model, but but

[Marketplace Host]

these days the door is getting knocked on on basically a daily basis. No question. There's way more interest in this space than there has been ever in the past, and I think AI is accelerating that.

[Samantha Fields]

AI is also pushing Northeastern to think beyond co, op, he says, and incorporate more experiential learning inside the classroom. These are the kinds of approaches Molly kinder thinks more schools need to be experimenting with. But she also says the onus shouldn't just be on colleges to reimagine their early career ladder.

[Molly Kinder]

My big idea is white collar careers should look toward the medical residency model, which is just a completely different way of developing talent.

[Samantha Fields]

And just as medical residents get paid while they're training, she says, these entry level workers should too, with funding coming from philanthropy, the government and private companies. I'm Samantha Fields for Marketplace, and in

[Sabri Ben-Achour]

New York, I'm Sabri Benishore with the Marketplace Morning Report. From APM American Public Media.

[Samantha Fields]

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[Sabri Ben-Achour]

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[Marketplace Host]

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