Generation Z in the US turns to entrepreneurship as AI eliminates entry-level positions

For Generation Z in the US, career no longer begins with an internship or junior position: due to a weak job market and rapid AI implementation, young professionals are now looking directly towards starting their own business. Instead of the familiar ladder where routine tasks come first and then responsibility increases, they see an almost empty bottom rung. Companies are hiring more cautiously, and those functions where newcomers used to learn are increasingly being automated.

In such a situation, entrepreneurship stops being a dream "for later" and becomes a backup route, and sometimes the primary way to enter the profession. A telling example is Ashley Terrell, a 2024 University of Hawaii graduate. She expected to find work in marketing, possibly at a technology company.

She had a degree in business administration and experience working in student marketing for Red Bull—a fairly normal package for starting out. But after months of applications, she received just one offer—to work in the power tools department at Home Depot. For her, this was a cold shower: the job search continued literally every day, including during shifts.

In her perception, competition was no longer only with other candidates, but also with employers' assumption that marketing tasks could be handled by generative tools.

The problem is broader than one unsuccessful story. According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, hiring rates have fallen to their lowest level since 2020. Against the backdrop of economic uncertainty, pressure is felt by workers of all ages, but it is Generation Z representatives who view the prospects most bleakly.

The most vulnerable positions turned out to be entry-level roles—the very positions through which graduates and young professionals without long resumes typically enter office work. These are assistants, coordinators, junior analysts, content and marketing assistants: work with many templated, repetitive tasks, now often becomes the first target for automation. AI doesn't necessarily fully replace a person, but it reduces the number of positions, redistributes responsibilities, and raises expectations for candidates right from the start.

The situation is exacerbated by a shift in requirements for "entry-level" positions. Even where a role formally remains junior, employers want to see candidates with ready-made case studies, understanding of analytics, work with multiple digital tools, and the ability to immediately deliver measurable results. In other words, the market is asking for experience from those who haven't yet acquired it.

Previously, this gap was closed by internships and lengthy on-the-job training, but now companies often prefer to hire one stronger generalist and supplement them with AI services, rather than take on several newcomers and spend a long time developing them. For graduates, this means a harsher, more expensive, and psychologically unstable entry into the profession.

Because of this, some Generation Z representatives are reconsidering the very logic of their careers. If in the past you had to "enter the industry" through a junior role, now some prefer to immediately sell their own services: market for small businesses, launch micro-studios, consult, gather freelance projects, or turn a personal brand into a source of orders. This path is riskier, but it offers what the stalled hiring doesn't—a chance to show results faster, build a portfolio, and not wait for approval from the corporate funnel.

Paradoxically, the same AI tools that are cutting the number of entry-level positions are simultaneously making it cheaper to launch a small business: they help with design, copywriting, analytics, and operations. The main conclusion is not that corporate careers are disappearing, but that their entry threshold is changing faster than universities and graduates themselves can adapt. For employers, this is a signal: if companies stop developing newcomers, they risk losing an entire generation of future specialists and managers.

For young people, the signal is different: betting only on a diploma and the standard junior track no longer works as a guaranteed scenario. In a market where AI is eroding the lower rungs of the career ladder, value shifts toward independence, speed of learning, and the ability to create work for yourself.