· Dec 9, 2025
Yashraj Sharma argues in Rest of World that AI is reshaping entry-level tech work
Markdown · JSON · Original source
On December 9, 2025, Yashraj Sharma reports in that AI is changing entry-level work and the skills employers expect of engineering graduates. Students in India, China, Dubai, and Kenya face fewer opportunities, while some employers expect graduates to handle sales, project management, and customer communication. Sharma reports that fewer than 25% of Rishabh Mishra’s 400 classmates had job offers, with his course due to end in May 2026. He cites a SignalFire report that fresh-graduate hiring at big tech companies fell by more than 50% over three years, though recent graduates made up 7% of new hires in 2024. The figures do not establish that AI alone caused the declines; the article also describes changing job requirements and students learning beyond college curricula. Some students consider further study or sales and marketing roles. Rita Sande Lukale says graduates need skills to understand algorithms and troubleshoot complex automated systems. Vahid Haghzare calls the pattern of studying computer science and then seeking work “not sustainable.” How many graduates can find work under these changing expectations, and can universities adapt?
Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims.
Original source
· Article
Source details
Original source date: Dec 9, 2025 (2025-12-09T11:00:00+00:00).
Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page.
Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-09T17:18:23.355Z. First observed: 2026-11-07T07:41:48.125Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-07T07:43:36.917Z.
Referenced by
Recorded citations and public file attachments. A reference alone does not establish agreement or influence.
No public references recorded here yet.
Limits
The article’s hiring figures come from reports and sources it cites; the retrieved text does not establish that AI alone caused the reported declines. Text as retrieved on November 7, 2026; originally published December 9, 2025.
Open question
How many engineering graduates can find work as entry-level roles and employers’ expectations change?
Source-stated
Yashraj Sharma reports that AI has automated tasks previously assigned to junior engineers, while employers expect some new graduates to take on additional responsibilities.
AI has automated many tasks once handled by junior engineers. Entry-level hiring at big tech companies has dropped
Source-stated
Sharma reports that fewer than 25% of Rishabh Mishra’s 400 classmates had job offers, with Mishra’s course due to end in May 2026.
Among his 400 classmates at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, fewer than 25% have secured job offers. His course ends in May 2026
Source-stated
Sharma cites a SignalFire report that fresh-graduate hiring at big tech companies globally declined by more than 50% over three years; recent graduates were 7% of new hires in 2024.
Over the last three years, the number of fresh graduates hired by big tech companies globally has declined by more than 50%, according to a report published by SignalFire, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm. Even though hiring rebounded slightly in 2024, only 7% of new hires were recent
Source-stated
Vahid Haghzare says employers hiring recent engineering graduates expect additional responsibilities, including project management, customer communication, and sales.
companies that hire recent engineering graduates expect them to execute “additional responsibilities,” like managing a project or leading sales.
Source-stated
Rita Sande Lukale says graduates need to understand algorithms and use engineering judgement to troubleshoot complex automated systems.
fresh graduates “must possess higher-level skills, necessary to understand algorithms and use the engineering judgement to troubleshoot the complex and automated systems,” she said.
Source-stated
Vahid Haghzare describes the current sequence of studying computer science for three to five years and then looking for work as “not sustainable.”
The current system, where a student commits three to five years to learn computer science and then looks for a job, is “not sustainable,” Haghzare said.
Source and contributor context
Rest of World · Publisher
The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred.
Source media
Media retrieval status: unchecked.
Terms and references
Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.
Rest of World
Rest of World reports technology and its social effects outside a US-only frame.
Editorial provenance
Version 1. Publication ID: 6a42645b-6049-ff4d-b284-39dff7c2b9bb.
Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5.
Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-09T17:13:44.751Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true.
Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge_admitted_by_model.
Observation: 02babd78bb3398660daa70d0589d914861cfee91d690f06db8f744ef75ed6ea6. Source text hash: d105c5c3b798cedc36055d0e9a2438116266dee640c4079b93a97cb9eeab8801.
Revision and source-check history
Version 1 · 2026-11-09T17:18:23.355Z
Yashraj Sharma argues in Rest of World that AI is reshaping entry-level tech work
On December 9, 2025, Yashraj Sharma reports in that AI is changing entry-level work and the skills employers expect of engineering graduates. Students in India, China, Dubai, and Kenya face fewer opportunities, while some employers expect graduates to handle sales, project management, and customer communication. Sharma reports that fewer than 25% of Rishabh Mishra’s 400 classmates had job offers, with his course due to end in May 2026. He cites a SignalFire report that fresh-graduate hiring at big tech companies fell by more than 50% over three years, though recent graduates made up 7% of new hires in 2024. The figures do not establish that AI alone caused the declines; the article also describes changing job requirements and students learning beyond college curricula. Some students consider further study or sales and marketing roles. Rita Sande Lukale says graduates need skills to understand algorithms and troubleshoot complex automated systems. Vahid Haghzare calls the pattern of studying computer science and then seeking work “not sustainable.” How many graduates can find work under these changing expectations, and can universities adapt?
Original source
· Article
Source details
Original source date: Dec 9, 2025 (2025-12-09T11:00:00+00:00).
Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page.
Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-09T17:18:23.355Z. First observed: 2026-11-07T07:41:48.125Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-07T07:43:36.917Z.
Limits
The article’s hiring figures come from reports and sources it cites; the retrieved text does not establish that AI alone caused the reported declines. Text as retrieved on November 7, 2026; originally published December 9, 2025.
Open question
How many engineering graduates can find work as entry-level roles and employers’ expectations change?
Source-stated
Yashraj Sharma reports that AI has automated tasks previously assigned to junior engineers, while employers expect some new graduates to take on additional responsibilities.
AI has automated many tasks once handled by junior engineers. Entry-level hiring at big tech companies has dropped
Source-stated
Sharma reports that fewer than 25% of Rishabh Mishra’s 400 classmates had job offers, with Mishra’s course due to end in May 2026.
Among his 400 classmates at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, fewer than 25% have secured job offers. His course ends in May 2026
Source-stated
Sharma cites a SignalFire report that fresh-graduate hiring at big tech companies globally declined by more than 50% over three years; recent graduates were 7% of new hires in 2024.
Over the last three years, the number of fresh graduates hired by big tech companies globally has declined by more than 50%, according to a report published by SignalFire, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm. Even though hiring rebounded slightly in 2024, only 7% of new hires were recent
Source-stated
Vahid Haghzare says employers hiring recent engineering graduates expect additional responsibilities, including project management, customer communication, and sales.
companies that hire recent engineering graduates expect them to execute “additional responsibilities,” like managing a project or leading sales.
Source-stated
Rita Sande Lukale says graduates need to understand algorithms and use engineering judgement to troubleshoot complex automated systems.
fresh graduates “must possess higher-level skills, necessary to understand algorithms and use the engineering judgement to troubleshoot the complex and automated systems,” she said.
Source-stated
Vahid Haghzare describes the current sequence of studying computer science for three to five years and then looking for work as “not sustainable.”
The current system, where a student commits three to five years to learn computer science and then looks for a job, is “not sustainable,” Haghzare said.
Source and contributor context
Rest of World · Publisher
The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred.
Source media
Media retrieval status: unchecked.
Terms and references
Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.
Rest of World
Rest of World reports technology and its social effects outside a US-only frame.
Editorial provenance
Version 1. Publication ID: 6a42645b-6049-ff4d-b284-39dff7c2b9bb.
Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5.
Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-09T17:13:44.751Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true.
Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge_admitted_by_model.
Observation: 02babd78bb3398660daa70d0589d914861cfee91d690f06db8f744ef75ed6ea6. Source text hash: d105c5c3b798cedc36055d0e9a2438116266dee640c4079b93a97cb9eeab8801.
uncertain · 2026-11-09T17:13:44.751Z · anthropic/claude-opus-5.5
Publication: 6a42645b-6049-ff4d-b284-39dff7c2b9bb
attribution — pass: This is a single reported article by Yashraj Sharma for Rest of World. Its figures and quotes are attributed correctly to SignalFire, Mishra, Lukale and Haghzare. The title's word 'argues' is a little loose for a reported piece, but the attribution is right.
By Yashraj Sharma 9 December 2025
summary — uncertain: The reading is accurate but softens the source's force. It drops the article's central 'jobpocalypse' framing and Mishra's 'Everyone is so panicked' voice. It also adds an unlabeled caveat, 'The figures do not establish that AI alone caused the declines', against a piece that plainly says AI 'gutted' entry-level roles. It omits that 2024 hiring 'rebounded slightly' and the word 'only' before 7%. Smallest repair: state the article's AI-driven 'jobpocalypse' thesis as Sharma's attributed claim, and label the causation caveat as Escape Meridian interpretation.
Artificial intelligence has gutted entry-level roles in the tech industry that Mishra and his classmates were counting on.
date — pass: The reading's December 9, 2025 date matches the dateline and originalPublished. May 2026 is presented as a scheduled course end, not an outcome, and there is no hindsight framing. The page was modified on 2025-12-19, but the cited passages are core article body.
His course ends in May 2026, and there’s a sense of panic on the campus.
support — pass: Each claim's excerpt appears verbatim in the article body and supports the claim. The core article text is plainly part of the original piece despite the later dateModified. The closing question follows from the evidence without assuming an answer.
Over the last three years, the number of fresh graduates hired by big tech companies globally has declined by more than 50%, according to a report published by SignalFire
media — pass: No media was selected, and no verified candidates were supplied, so nothing is misidentified.
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Rest of World reports technology and its social effects outside a US-only frame.
Explore Rest of WorldRest of World reports technology and its social effects outside a US-only frame.
Explore Rest of WorldRest of World reports technology and its social effects outside a US-only frame.
Explore Rest of WorldRest of World reports technology and its social effects outside a US-only frame.
Explore Rest of WorldRest of World reports technology and its social effects outside a US-only frame.
Explore Rest of World