| October 31, 2025
In a powerful message to business leaders, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has warned that replacing entry-level workers with AI could cause a serious crisis down the road:
“If no young people can get jobs, then you have no one in the future to fill leadership roles.”
His comments come as companies like Amazon, Meta, and Salesforce cut thousands of junior roles—even while spending billions on AI tools that automate tasks once done by interns and new hires.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Since January 2024, global entry-level job postings (for roles needing 0–2 years of experience) have dropped by 29%, according to Randstad’s analysis of 126 million job listings. In tech, the fall is even steeper—35% fewer entry-level jobs.
Amazon, for example, has already cut 14,000 jobs this year thanks to AI—and plans to cut 30,000 total. Its internal AI tool, Amazon Q, can now do in hours what used to take developers thousands of work-years.
But AI Can’t Lead a Team
Chesky isn’t against AI. He’s against replacing people entirely—especially early-career workers who are just learning the ropes.
“AI can do a lot of lower-level tasks,” he told ABC News.
“But it needs to be told what to do every step of the way. It can’t come up with new ideas like humans can.”
He stressed that leadership, creativity, and relationships are still deeply human skills. And if young people never get their first job, they’ll never get the chance to develop them.
Young Workers Are Adapting—But Struggling
The pressure is real:
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Global youth unemployment hit 11.2% in July 2025
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Law school applications have jumped 33% as Gen Z tries to “future-proof” their careers
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Yet 75% of Gen Z is also using AI to learn new skills faster—more than any other generation
A Warning Worth Listening To
Chesky’s message isn’t just about fairness—it’s about survival.
Companies may save money today by using AI instead of hiring interns… but in 10 years, they might have no experienced leaders to run their businesses.
As he put it simply:
“We need to make room for people early in their careers—even if AI can do the interns’ work.”
Because the future isn’t just built with smart machines.
It’s built by smart humans—who once started as interns too.
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