IBM will hire your entry-level talent in the age of AI

<p id="speakable-summary" class="wp-block-paragraph">While the artificial intelligence industry touts that AI will replace entry-level jobs, not every company is scaling back hiring these positions. In IBM’s case, it’s going all in.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Hardware giant IBM plans to triple entry-level hiring in the U.S. in 2026, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-12/ibm-plans-to-triple-entry-level-hiring-in-the-us-in-2026?embedded-checkout=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">reporting from Bloomberg</a>. Nickle LaMoreaux, IBM’s chief human resource officer, announced the initiative at Charter’s Leading with AI Summit on Tuesday.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“And yes, it’s for all these jobs that we’re being told AI can do,” LaMoreaux said.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">These jobs will look different than the entry-level jobs IBM used to offer, she explained. According to LaMoreaux, she went through and changed the descriptions for these entry-level jobs so they were less focused on areas AI can actually automate — like coding — and more focused on people-forward areas like engaging with customers.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This strategy makes sense. Even if an enterprise like IBM doesn’t necessarily need the same amount of entry-level talent that it did before, fostering less experienced workers helps ensure these employees have the skills needed for the higher-level roles down the road.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">IBM didn’t specify how many people they would be hiring in this initiative. TechCrunch reached out to IBM for more information on the hiring plans.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This year could be a pivotal one regarding what the impact of AI on the hiring market will look like. An MIT study in 2025 estimated that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/26/mit-study-finds-ai-can-already-replace-11point7percent-of-us-workforce.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">11.7% of jobs could likely already be automated by AI</a>. A <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/31/investors-predict-ai-is-coming-for-labor-in-2026/">TechCrunch survey</a> found that multiple investors think 2026 will start to show AI’s potential impact on the labor market — despite not being asked about labor specifically.</p>