The debate about AI replacing young workers isn't as cut-and-dried as it seems. According to a recent analysis from job marketplace SEEK, the situation is more complex than the alarming headlines would have you believe.
SEEK looked at millions of Australian job ads across knowledge-based occupations and found two forces pulling in opposite directions: augmentation and automation. Where AI mostly helps people do their jobs better or faster, early-career opportunities have grown. Where AI mostly does the job itself, those opportunities have shrunk.
For now, the growth effect looks stronger than the decline. That's a genuinely useful data point for small business owners wondering whether AI tools mean they need fewer junior staff, or just different ones.
SEEK Chief Economist Dr Blair Chapman puts it simply: "AI may be increasing demand for junior workers in some white-collar roles, particularly where it helps workers do tasks more effectively rather than replacing them outright. In other roles, AI appears to reduce demand by doing some tasks itself. This suggests the labour market effects of AI are still unfolding."
Winners and losers
The spread between occupations is significant. Electronics Engineers saw a 3.0 percentage-point increase in their early-career job ad share in 2025, while Civil Engineering Professionals rose 2.7 percentage points. Advertising and Marketing Professionals grew 1.2 percentage points too, even though the role has high exposure to both augmentation (79%) and automation (54%), suggesting the helpful side of AI is currently winning out there.
It's a different story for roles tipping more heavily toward automation. Software and Applications Programmers, sitting at 63% automation exposure, the highest of the occupations SEEK studied, saw their early-career job ad share drop 0.3 percentage points. Human Resource Professionals fell 0.7 percentage points.
SEEK's analysis zeroed in on knowledge-based occupations, which now make up close to 40% of Australian employment and cover much of the managerial, professional and admin-heavy work that small businesses rely on. These are the jobs built around language, analysis and judgement, exactly the tasks generative AI is best placed to assist with or take over. It's also where SEEK's own job ad data shows AI skills being requested most, particularly in ICT and marketing and communications roles.
Still finding its shape
Since ChatGPT's launch, the pattern has only sharpened. From 2023 to 2025, roles more exposed to augmentation kept adding early-career opportunities, while roles more exposed to automation kept losing them. Neither trend has settled down, which SEEK suggests points to businesses and workers still figuring out how to fold AI into daily work.
For small business owners, that's arguably the most practical takeaway: what counts as "entry-level" is shifting. Junior staff supported by AI tools may now be able to take on work that used to require someone more senior, which could change what skills and experience employers should actually be looking for when hiring their next junior team member.