Amazon / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
Amazon today published a blog post by Michelle Vaz, managing director, AWS Training and Certification, that contains some fascinating insights about how AI is changing the landscape for people early in their careers.
To understand this dynamic, Amazon partnered with Draup, a "data intelligence firm specializing in workforce planning and talent analytics." Together, the two companies conducted a study entitled, "The Evolution of Early-Career Technical Roles in the AI Era."
Amazon hasn't yet provided us with all the data from the study, so I'll make some inferences. Amazon uses the term "early-career professionals," so the AI-related observations are likely about knowledge workers, not all new entrants into the workforce.
Also: Amazon's Andy Jassy says AI will take some jobs but make others more 'interesting'
The analysis raises the same concerns we've been discussing here on ZDNET about AI potentially replacing entry-level jobs. On the other hand, Amazon's numbers show there is also considerable growth in demand for technical skills.
That paradox is something Vaz explores. She reports that young adult unemployment is at 6.6%, the highest in the past 10 years -- outside of the pandemic. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall unemployment rate was 4.1% in June and has been fairly steady for the past year.
One startling result from the study is this: 50 to 55% of "early-career workloads are now AI-augmented." In other words, it's not that AI will impact the workforce. It's that it is already having an outsized impact right now.
But what does this mean, at least for entry-level tech jobs? That's next.
AI is transforming entry-level tech work
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