SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – If it feels like landing that first \u201creal\u201d job is harder than it used to be, you\u2019re not imagining it \u2014 and it might have something to do with AI.<\/p>\n
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds is about three percentage points higher than the national average.<\/p>\n
Economists describe the current job market as a \u201clow hire, low fire\u201d climate. In other words, companies aren\u2019t laying people off at the same rate as in past downturns \u2014 but they also aren\u2019t hiring aggressively. That can make it especially tough for young adults trying to get their foot in the door.<\/p>\n
At the same time, employers are increasingly asking for something many early-career workers haven\u2019t had time to build yet: AI experience.<\/p>\n
A recent analysis from Indeed highlights how fast that shift is happening. Across industries, one in 12 job listings now includes \u201cAI\u201d in the job title \u2014 and that number has tripled since 2022.<\/p>\n
So what can you do if you\u2019re looking for work right now? A local economist encourages job seekers to adjust to the evolving landscape.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmployers will look for people who can use AI to expand productivity and opportunities \u2014 not just to do existing tasks,\u201d said Yong Suk Lee, an associate professor of technology, economy, and global affairs at the University of Notre Dame.<\/p>\n
Lee says even though AI may be replacing some entry-level tasks, it\u2019s also creating opportunities in other spaces \u2014 adding that while it may be harder right now for young adults to find jobs, building AI-related skills now can pay dividends later.<\/p>\n
Stay up to date on local news with WNDU<\/a> on-air and online. Be sure to download the 16 News Now App<\/a> and follow our YouTube<\/a> page as we continue to bring you the latest news coverage.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 WNDU. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – If it feels like landing that first \u201creal\u201d job is harder than it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,53068,25,53071,53069,53070,2256,53067],"class_list":["post-102053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-ai-job-market-2026","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-bureau-of-labor-statistics-youth-unemployment","tag-entry-level-jobs-ai-skills","tag-low-hire-low-fire-economy","tag-wndu","tag-young-adult-unemployment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}