It seems like every week another recruiter highlights that companies are trimming back on graduate hiring schemes. The rationale is always the same: artificial intelligence can take on the data-crunching, research and routine tasks that junior employees cut their teeth on, so why spend the money on people? It’s an easy way to trim costs by letting the algorithms take the strain.
But by chasing short-term savings, companies risk inflicting long-term damage on themselves. The real question is not whether AI can do these basic tasks faster and cheaper – in many cases, it can. It’s whether companies are willing to shrink the pipeline of talent they are going to need in five or 10 years’ time.
Investment in the business
Think back to what a graduate intake programme has traditionally offered. For employers, it has been a way of bringing in smart and ambitious workers who can be trained in the company’s way of doing things. For graduates, it’s the first rung on the career ladder, a chance to learn the ropes and prove themselves. Much of the work is repetitive and the hours are long. The experience is also the foundation for developing judgment, commercial awareness and people networks that eventually turn the intern into a trusted business developer, client manager or dealmaker.
AI cannot replace the ambition or curiosity that graduates bring
Strip that base layer out and you are not just saving on wages, you are also starving your own organisation of its future leadership talent.
AI cannot replace the ambition or curiosity and hunger that graduates bring. It cannot grab a coffee with a co-worker to bounce ideas off. It cannot pick up on a subtle shift in tone in a meeting or forge a lucrative new relationship. In fields such as accountancy, law, consulting and banking, those softer skills are often the differentiators that swing the choice of adviser by a client.
Firms will end up with senior managers and automation with no one in between
AI tools are only as good as the people who guide them. To make best use of these technologies, companies will still need a generation of employees who understand both the business and the algorithm. If fewer of those people are coming through, who will be left to interpret the outputs, spot errors or challenge assumptions? The danger is that firms will end up with senior managers and automation with no one in between.
Lost talent
We have been here before. In the wake of the financial crisis, many firms slashed hiring to preserve cash. A decade on, those same businesses lamented the absence of experienced mid-ranking staff. It happened again during the pandemic, as employers struggled to recruit to keep pace with needs.
None of this is to deny the transformative potential of AI. It is reshaping entire industries and will eliminate some roles altogether. Companies would be utterly foolish to ignore it. Equally as foolish would be to treat it as a total substitute for human capital. The smart strategy is to blend the best of the two by using AI to remove the drudgery of repetitive tasks and combining it with the human ambition and creativity needed to drive growth.
The graduate intake is not a cost centre to be pared back
Companies that strike the right balance will be the ones that thrive. Those that do not may find that the savings they make today coming back to haunt them tomorrow. The graduate intake is not a cost centre to be pared back. It is an investment (with an upfront cost) in future leadership and all the benefits that come from having people who know their company and its clients and can act dynamically.
So the next time a board debates whether to trim this year’s graduate programme, it is worth asking the question: in five or 10 years from now, who will be out there winning clients, building networks and leading teams for that business? AI certainly won’t be. That role will still belong to people, and unless companies keep investing in them, there simply won’t be enough of the right stuff to go around.
