IBM’s Counter-Intuitive Bet: Why They’re Tripling Gen Z Hiring

Here’s a headline that went against the prevailing narrative: IBM is tripling its entry-level hiring. In an era where CEOs from Anthropic to Ford are warning that AI will slash corporate jobs, IBM’s Chief HR Officer made a bold claim: “The companies three to five years from now that are going to be the most successful are those companies that doubled down on entry-level hiring.”

The Core Insight

The conventional wisdom says AI makes entry-level jobs obsolete. Train fewer junior developers, save money, let AI handle the routine work. But IBM’s Nickle LaMoreaux sees something others are missing: cutting junior talent creates an eventual shortage of mid-level managers.

The logic is straightforward but often ignored. Junior employees don’t just do work—they grow into the people who will lead the company in five to ten years. Cut that pipeline, and you’ll face a leadership gap that no amount of AI can fill.

Meanwhile, companies like Dropbox and Cognizant are reaching similar conclusions. Dropbox is expanding internship programs by 25% to capture Gen Z’s AI fluency. Cognizant’s CEO Ravi Kumar S puts it simply: “AI is an amplifier of human potential. It’s not a displacement strategy.”

Why This Matters

The unemployment rate for young college grads sits near its highest level in over a decade outside the pandemic—at 5.6%. Combined with executives warning about AI job displacement, the message to Gen Z is bleak.

But the companies betting on young talent see something different: Gen Z workers are arriving with better AI skills than their older peers. As Dropbox’s CPO put it, “It’s like they’re biking in the Tour de France and the rest of us still have training wheels.”

IBM has rewritten its roles to account for AI fluency. Software engineers spend less time on routine coding and more on customer interaction. HR staff work on improving chatbots rather than answering every question themselves. The shift builds more durable skills while creating long-term value.

Key Takeaways

• Pipeline thinking: Cutting entry-level jobs creates downstream leadership gaps
• Gen Z advantage: Younger workers bring AI fluency that older employees often lack
• Role redesign: AI automation isn’t about elimination—it’s about repositioning human work
• Strategic timing: IBM’s LaMoreaux argues this is exactly the right moment to hire

Looking Ahead

The companies that will thrive won’t be those that replace humans with AI—they’ll be those that figure out the right human-AI collaboration. IBM’s bet suggests that investing in young talent, properly trained for an AI-augmented workplace, is part of that equation.

For job seekers, the message is clear: AI literacy is now the fastest-growing skill in the U.S., according to LinkedIn. Showing initiative and comfort with AI might be exactly what breaks through in a tight market.

The AI era doesn’t mean fewer jobs—it might mean different ones. IBM is betting on that thesis.

Based on analysis of IBM tripling Gen Z entry-level hiring