Goldman Sachs Reveals Where AI Is Squeezing the Labor Market: Entry-Level Workers Hit Hardest
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
New York NY, Artificial intelligence is no longer just a theoretical threat to the job market—its impact is becoming measurable.
A new report from Goldman Sachs reveals that while broad economic collapse has not occurred, AI adoption is actively applying downward pressure on specific industries and early-career job seekers across major developed economies.
According to the study, industries with higher exposure to AI automation have seen a noticeable slowdown in job openings since late 2022, with the sharpest drops occurring in the U.S., Germany, and Australia.
Which Industries Are Seeing the Hardest AI Pressure?
The Goldman Sachs study highlights several key sectors where employment growth has fallen significantly below historical trends due to available automation tools:
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Customer Call Centers: Experiencing the most severe drop, with employment sitting 39% below trend in the U.S., 33% in Canada, and 27% in Germany.
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Software Publishing: Facing persistent hiring headwinds as automated coding tools streamline entry-level development.
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Advertising & Marketing Services: Experiencing slower hiring growth due to generative media and automated copywriting tools.
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Management Consulting: Seeing compressed headcount requirements for research and basic analytical tasks.
The Entry-Level Squeeze: Why Junior Workers Are Most Vulnerable
Analyzing employment trends across more than 800 occupations, Goldman Sachs found that the negative impact of AI is disproportionately felt by early-career professionals.
Companies are increasingly leveraging generative AI to perform routine tasks traditionally assigned to junior staff.
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Broader Workforce: A 10% increase in occupational exposure to AI results in a minimal 0.1 percentage point drag on annual headcount growth across countries like the U.S., France, and Canada.
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Entry-Level Workers: That same 10% exposure creates a far larger drag—slowing annual entry-level headcount growth by over 0.2 percentage points in the U.S. and more than 0.6 percentage points in Australia.
This data aligns with recent academic research showing that AI-native startups operate with roughly 15% fewer junior workers and managers compared to traditional companies.
Global Adoption Rates: Where AI Is Spreading Fastest
Goldman Sachs synthesized data across 11 international surveys to measure overall enterprise adoption of AI tools:
| Region / Market | AI Adoption Rate | Key Leaders / Observations |
| Leading Developed Markets | 15% – 20% | United States, France, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom |
| Slower Developed Markets | Below 15% | Italy, Japan, and New Zealand |
| Emerging Markets | 10% – 15% | Gradual integration across tech and corporate hubs |
While the overall labor market remains resilient, Goldman Sachs concludes that AI-related hiring pressures are already clear in data globally—reshaping entry-level career pathways and compressing hiring in highly exposed fields.
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