According to recent reports, UK fintech company Revolut has announced that starting in 2027, interns and participants in its graduate program will be required to work in the office at least three days a week, while other employees can continue to choose between remote or in-person work. The company’s head of talent programs, Queenie Li, explained that this change reflects the value of in-person learning for early-career workers, as they benefit from observing how colleagues conduct their work beyond formal instruction. Researchers broadly agree that in-person mentorship and informal learning are crucial for junior employees, but the shift has sparked debate among labor market observers about the roles remote work, AI, and other factors play in employers’ willingness to hire entry-level staff.
The trend comes as recent data shows that college graduates in their early to mid-20s have faced a higher unemployment rate than the overall workforce since late 2018, reversing decades of lower jobless rates for this group. Research by Peter John Lambert and Yannick Schindler suggests that remote work is a stronger explanation for the decline in entry-level hiring than AI, with the share of entry-level hires falling by up to 29% in recent years while senior hires increased. The New York Fed found that remote setups make it harder for managers to train and mentor new employees, leading to a „dramatic” reduction in feedback that disproportionately affects younger workers. However, not all experts agree, with Stanford’s Nicholas Bloom noting that remote work, AI, pandemic-era learning losses, and hiring slowdowns are all plausible explanations that current data cannot disentangle.
Other research points to AI as a significant factor. Mark Ma from the University of Pittsburgh found that companies with AI-related job titles or descriptions reduced overall hiring, especially for early-career roles, suggesting that AI can replace junior-level work. He argues that the problem for recent grads is worsening even as remote work rates decline. Conversely, firms with more remote job postings actually increased junior hiring, likely due to faster growth. For those who secure jobs, many early-career workers prefer hybrid arrangements, with only about a quarter of Gen Z workers wanting fully remote work according to Gallup. Brad Hershbein of the W.E. Upjohn Institute emphasizes that hybrid setups can be a „happy medium” that provides necessary mentorship, while Revolut plans to expand its intern and graduate program from 300 to 500 participants by 2027, underscoring the ongoing importance of in-office learning for career development.
Ez a cikk a Neural News AI (V1) verziójával készült.
Forrás: https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-work-ai-entry-level-hiring-new-grads-2026-7#article.