The math is pretty simple: Young people need opportunities. Companies need fresh perspectives and talent pipelines.
So, how can companies reimagine entry-level roles to bring young workers into the business? More than 75% of leaders in a study by Microsoft and LinkedIn said early-career talent will have greater responsibilities because of AI. That’s true at KPMG: Recent graduates there are handling tax work previously reserved for staff with at least three years of experience.
“AI is helping newer employees punch above their weight,” said Lucas Puente, head of research at Slack. “It gives them the insights and support they need to take on work that used to require years of experience.” Slack research backs that up, showing that 83% of daily AI users are comfortable using the technology to perform tasks outside their skill set, especially millennial and Gen Z workers.
But companies are still nurturing talent the traditional way, too. Salesforce’s Futureforce program, for example, offers an internship and a three-month new grad program. “We welcomed hundreds of interns this summer and are welcoming new grads, as well,” said Murray. “This demographic is in our DNA as a company.”
Ryan Dudak is part of that DNA. A 2024 graduate of Dartmouth College, Dudak was a Salesforce intern between her junior and senior year, and is now in the company’s two-year product management rotation program. Of the 13 people in her cohort, 11 started as interns.
Because she was a computer science and linguistics major in college, she arrived at Salesforce with AI skills. “When I was an intern, I used to spend hours writing a product requirements document, but now I can fast-track that with AI,” she said.
She also came with a fresh perspective. At Dartmouth, she took a class on AI ethics and was able to apply that knowledge in her last rotation. “We were working on several generative AI features, and there were social and environmental implications that I don’t think many of my team members had considered or even thought about until I raised them,” she said.
