AI Study: Junior Roles Shrinking in Spain as AI Favors Senior Positions

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the job market, favoring higher-responsibility positions and diminishing entry-level opportunities, particularly in Spain, according to an international study.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reconfiguring the global labor market, and a recent international study highlights Spain as a prime example of how this technology may be closing doors to junior-level jobs. The research, which analyzes data from **41 countries**, suggests that companies adopting AI are not only failing to destroy jobs but are actually increasing employment, although the composition of their workforces is leaning significantly towards more experienced profiles.

## The Shift Towards Senior Employment

The analysis, conducted by experts from **Stanford University** and **King's College London**, examines data from nearly **400,000 companies** and over **one billion job postings** since 2022. The results indicate that companies investing in AI see their workforces grow by an average of **3.3%**, compared to those that do not. However, this growth is not distributed equally. The percentage of entry-level positions, those with less responsibility, has declined by **1.9 percentage points** globally, being replaced by senior-category jobs. This effect is particularly pronounced in sectors like technology and software development.

It is crucial to understand that "junior employment" does not strictly refer to the worker's age but to their position within the company hierarchy. These lower-responsibility roles appear to be the most affected by AI adoption. The study clarifies that this phenomenon is not due to mass layoffs of junior staff but rather an increase in demand for roles with greater responsibility, which have grown by **6.7%** worldwide. In other words, the penalty on entry-level positions is compatible with overall workforce growth.

## The "Spanish Mystery" and Study Limitations

What is striking about the Spanish case is its presentation as the clearest example of this trend. While a drop in the junior employment share is observed in **23 out of the 41 countries** analyzed, only in seven of them—including **Spain**, the **United States**, the **United Kingdom**, **Poland**, **Brazil**, **Mexico**, and **Saudi Arabia**—is the decline statistically significant. Spain is also one of the two countries where total employment in AI-adopting companies grows notably; the other is **Sweden**.

This outcome is intriguing, especially considering that the **United States** is a recognized leader in AI development and use. The study's authors themselves, such as **Bharat Chandar** from Stanford and **Bouke Klein Teeselink** from King's College, are renowned figures in the analysis of AI and the labor market. Chandar, in fact, has participated in previous research that already pointed to a negative effect on recent graduates' employment in the US.

However, the researchers acknowledge limitations in their data sources. The **Revelio** database, used in the study, tends to overrepresent larger companies and certain senior professional profiles. In Spain, for example, it covers **38%** of companies, many of them multinationals and their subsidiaries. This overrepresentation could distort the perception of the real weight of junior positions, which, according to the analysis, account for **61.6%** in the included companies. A similar bias is observed in job postings on platforms like **LinkedIn**, which show a greater prevalence of generative AI compared to other countries.

## Labor Flexibility and the Future of Employment

The study also sheds light on the apparent independence of this trend from labor market characteristics. Similar impacts are observed in countries with vastly diverse economies and institutional structures. The flexibility of the US market, for example, does not seem to offer an advantage over economies with more protective labor regulations, such as Spain's. This suggests that differences in the rigidity of employment protection are not a determining factor in preventing this shift towards senior positions. In other words, stricter labor regulations do not appear to be sufficient to counteract AI's effect on employment structure.