AI has wiped out a third of entry-level jobs, affecting young Iowans

Another young college graduate from Iowa can’t find any sort of entry-level job, she told me last week. And AI may be to blame.

Meghan Holloran just graduated from Drake University this May with a multimedia journalism degree. She did a year-long apprenticeship with Better Homes and Gardens magazine, was on the school newspaper for three years, and even had a federal government internship last summer—all things she thought would help her in the job market.

But eight months after she started her search in February, she’s still looking.

“Everyone said, ‘Go to college and you’ll have a bunch of job offers. It’ll be great,'” Holloran told me. “And that is not what is happening.”

READ: 150+ interviews, zero job offers: Iowa job market ‘rough,’ says grad

She’s on all the recruitment sites she can think of: Indeed, LinkedIn Premium, Journalism Jobs, Media Bistro, Public Media Jobs, and “just scrolling all of the journalism job boards I can find.” She’s willing to work anywhere, do just about anything. But she’s found entry-level jobs are scarce.

“I’ve looked everywhere,” she said, noting she’s willing to move. “I’ve looked into consulting work, dump work. It is just entry-level jobs have dried up because, at least in my opinion, AI.”

VIDEO: Hear this story in Meghan’s own words.

Holloran is correct, I found: According to CNBC, postings for entry-level jobs in the US have declined 35% since January 2023, per labor research firm Revelio Labs.

And AI, or artificial intelligence, plays a big role in that now, and will do so even more in the future (unless we stop it): Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei forecast 50% of entry-level jobs could be wiped out by AI as the technology improves.

And it’s coming for journalism, for writing, for art. The ladder young humanities majors used to start their careers is being dismantled by robots that simply mimic them (and not very well).

“The job market is really against, I feel, a lot of creatives right now,” Holloran said. “I know several people in my major who have yet to find jobs.”

Holloran said she and her peers don’t want a handout. They just want the same fair shake people like me got 20 years ago. But she doesn’t see “an end in sight for all of this,” she said.

“We’re really trying, and we might not have all the years of experience you want for that set job role, but please just give us a chance,” she asked of us. “Ninety-five percent of us are really hardworking, and we just want a shot at stability—and not working, you know, two to three retail jobs just to make ends meet.

“Just give us a chance.”

Are you an Iowan having trouble finding a job? Email me.

This story first appeared in the Iowa Worker’s Almanac; subscribe for free here.