The youngest workers in America’s technology sector are facing sharp job losses as artificial intelligence (AI) spreads across the workplace, according to a new Stanford-led study.
The research, authored by Erik Brynjolfsson, Prasanna Chandar, and Daniel Chen, uses payroll data from millions of employees across tens of thousands of firms to measure the labor effects of generative AI.
Results of the study show the job market has not been kind to young workers, especially those exposed in generative AI fields.
“Since the widespread adoption of generative AI, early-career workers (ages 22–25) in the most AI-exposed occupations have experienced a 13% relative decline in employment even after controlling for firm-level shocks.”
The decline is most visible in entry-level software jobs.
“By July 2025, employment for software developers aged 22–25 declined by nearly 20% compared to its peak in late 2022.”
Even after accounting for differences across firms, the study notes the trend remains.
“We find that employment declines for young, AI-exposed workers remain after conditioning on firm-time effects… For workers aged 22-25, a 12 log-point decline in relative employment for the most AI-exposed quintiles compared to the least exposed quintile.”
But the researchers note that the damage is not shared equally across generations.
“Workers aged 22 to 25 have experienced a 6% decline in employment from late 2022 to July 2025 in the most AI-exposed occupations, compared to a 6–9% increase for older workers.”
Earlier this year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI would wipe out 50% of all white-collar entry-level roles, urging governments and AI firms to stop “sugar-coating” what’s in sight.
“Most of them are unaware that this is about to happen. It sounds crazy, and people just don’t believe it.”
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