The clearest present-tense signal — not some 2035 thought experiment — is entry-level and junior white-collar hiring tightening right now.
Labour analyses across 2024–2026 point to falling job postings for entry and mid-level roles in software and content — somewhere in the 14–41% range depending on the country and the study. Some US analyses show entry-level postings down sharply over roughly 18 months. Firms that adopt generative AI report junior employment down around 9–10% while senior headcount holds steady. Across AI-exposed occupations, young workers are losing share — and the premium on experience is rising.
The mechanism, in plain English: a senior person plus AI now soaks up the work that used to need a couple of junior bodies. Fewer rungs on the ladder. It's harder to "earn your stripes" the old way. And if you're mid-career and feeling smug — don't. Whole departments are being restructured around smaller teams.
Two knock-on effects worth naming: wages compress on any task AI turns into a commodity, and re-training stops being a one-off thing you did at 18 — it becomes a constant.
None of that is a forecast. It's hiring behaviour you can already read in the data today.
Continue — how your own work trains the machine.