Nicole de Fontaines, executive director of CEMS, said, “Entry-level roles are far more than a way of getting work done. They are where young people learn judgement, responsibility and how to lead across cultures, and where a company’s values are passed from one generation to the next.
“Companies that continue to hire and develop graduates are not simply filling vacancies. They are investing in the people, and the culture, on which their long-term success depends. Responsible, innovative, globally minded future leaders are not hired ready-made. They are grown through the real-world experience that entry-level roles provide.”
RSM alumna Merthe Weusthuis, now head of product at Whiteshield, said, "Continuing to hire graduates is crucial for the leadership pipeline. We’ve always found it difficult to hire externally at a senior level; our leaders have nearly always come up through the ranks. These are people you can gradually build into exceptional managers and senior leaders at the firm, particularly coming straight from university."
The bottom rung of the ladder is changing, not disappearing
Overall, report contributors argue that this moment provides a rare opportunity for graduates and employers alike. Today’s AI-fluent graduates can be advocates for new technology and are evidence-based problem-solvers who drive change across companies, at a time when in-house experience is still scarce.
RSM student and CEMS Student Board representative András Csanádi said, "For me it comes back to one idea: you own your output. You can do your work manually or you can use these tools to enhance it, but either way the result is your responsibility. My generation has a real advantage here because we are already fluent in this. The cat is out of the bag. We are not going to push AI back, so the real advantage goes to whoever learns to use it well, and ethically."
Despite widespread global fears around graduate roles being replaced by AI, contributors to the report argue that in most cases the bottom rung of the career ladder is not missing, it is changing shape. Routine drafting, data pulls and first-pass analysis are being absorbed into AI-managed workflows, but new roles are forming around them.
This supports data from CEMS’s corporate partners which contradict some of the more doom-laden predictions about AI and graduate jobs. Gartner data shows fewer than 1 percent of the 1.4 million layoffs recorded in 2025 were attributable to AI productivity gains, while Bain & Company found AI-related job postings have grown 21 percent a year since 2019.
Other key findings:
- AI is a golden window for graduates, not a lost opportunity: nobody has a decade of experience with today’s AI tools, so motivated graduates can become a team’s go-to expert within months rather than years.
- Graduates must put in the work: doing the minimum is not enough to secure a graduate role, as using AI is now the baseline. Graduates who stand out will be able to prove they are a “Builder” who can stitch AI tools into something that works end-to-end, a working demo, a personal project or a mock start-up.
- Identity and judgement will be differentiators: a strong sense of self, built through real-world experiences with genuine stakes such as sport, travel or volunteering, is what will enable graduates to use AI ethically, develop resilience, and stand out in a job market saturated with AI-generated sameness.
- Business schools and universities must embrace AI: rather than restricting AI, educators should embed it firmly into teaching and assessment, whilst redesigning coursework so that each student’s own reasoning and judgement remain visible. Partnerships with industry will be vital to stay ahead of the latest technological developments, as the business world moves faster than the academic calendar.
Nicole de Fontaines added, “The tough graduate job market is not a myth, and we do not pretend otherwise. It is genuinely challenging for students moving into the workplace right now, with some roles likely to disappear as AI reshapes work against a difficult economic and geopolitical backdrop. Yet the fuller picture is far from the one in which every junior role vanishes.
“The bottom rung, our contributors told us, is not missing in many cases so much as changing shape. That is a real opportunity for ambitious graduates to contribute more meaningfully, and earlier in their careers, than ever before – something we know from our previous research that they have craved for many years.
“If anything, this unique moment in history underlines the value of alliances like CEMS. Graduates will increasingly be expected to arrive ready to contribute from day one, rather than spending their first years acquiring the groundwork that AI can now absorb. Preparing them, through close collaboration between leading universities and the world's major employers, is exactly what our alliance was built to do.”
Read the complete report: The Missing Rung? AI and the Future of Entry-Level Work
About CEMS
CEMS is a global alliance of 33 of the world’s top business schools, more than 70 corporate partners (multinational companies) and 8 social partners (NGOs), dedicated to educating and preparing future generations of international business leaders through the CEMS Master in International Management (MIM).
The CEMS MIM emphasises personal and social responsibility in business decision-making, leadership and citizenship, informed by ethical reasoning, personal integrity and respect for social diversity. The programme helps students understand and navigate the international business environment, while equipping them with the knowledge, skills and network to manage people across borders and within multinational teams, tackling real business issues across a range of fields.
