Intro

“If companies just hire senior engineers, what’s going to happen to junior engineers?”

That is the question that has come up frequently when discussing with many engineers and engineering leaders across the industry.

The question is definitely valid, as there has been a decline in entry-level tech roles in our industry, especially in Big Tech. But is this the right way to go for companies?

Well, based on the title, you can already see where I stand on this, and I am sharing my full reasoning in this article.

This is an article for paid subscribers, and here is the full index:

- Decrease in Entry-Level Tech Jobs
- What is the Reason Companies Avoid Hiring Junior Engineers?
🔒 This is Why I Believe Companies Should Hire Junior Engineers
🔒 If AI Can Replace What Junior Engineers Do, How Can Companies Successfully Utilize Them?
🔒 How Should a Junior Engineer’s Role Change?
🔒 If Companies Hire Just Senior Engineers, What’s Going to Happen to Junior Engineers?
🔒 Last words

Let’s start!

Decrease in Entry-Level Tech Jobs

Based on the report done by SignalFire in May 2025, we could clearly see that there has been a decrease in entry-level tech jobs. The biggest decrease was in Big Tech by 24.8% and 10.7% in Startups from 2023 to 2024.

You can read more about the data and my thoughts on this report in this article:

Decrease in Entry-Level Tech Jobs Gregor Ojstersek · June 4, 2025 Read full story

There is a similar sentiment from the report from Ravio, where they mention the decrease of entry-level tech roles of 73%.

And particularly, they mention that the biggest decrease was seen in junior roles in People, Marketing, and Engineering, where hiring rates decreased by 75-84%.

This particular quote from the report is aligned with what we are going through today.

This shift raises critical questions about talent pipelines and career development. Without traditional entry points, how will organisations develop their future workforce? For graduates and early career professionals, this represents one of the most challenging job markets in decades.

So, why exactly do companies avoid hiring juniors at this time?

What is the Reason Companies Avoid Hiring Junior Engineers?

The number one reason is the increase in popularity of AI tools and the continuous increase in their capabilities. Of course, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and sensationalistic takes from known public individuals, who are continuously hyping up the tools, contribute to that aspect heavily as well.

The reasoning is the following:

AI can automate the responsibilities that junior engineers are doing, therefore there is a lot more risk involved if we hire a junior engineer, and there won’t be a need for them in the future, especially when capabilities increase even further.

Is this really the right way to look at hiring? Are engineering teams going to operate at their best when there are only senior engineers in the team? I’ll share my opinion on this next!

This is Why I Believe Companies Should Hire Junior Engineers...