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This is the fastest-growing job for young workers, LinkedIn says

By
Mary Cunningham
Reporter, MoneyWatch
Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. She previously worked at "60 Minutes," CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.
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Mary Cunningham

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As the rise of artificial intelligence stirs anxiety over the technology taking people's jobs, AI is also opening pathways to new careers, according to LinkedIn.

The fastest-growing job title for young workers on the networking platform is "AI engineer," a recent report from the company found. LinkedIn analyzed millions of member profiles to determine the number of entry-level workers hired over the last three years and the roles they were hired to fill. 

"It's measuring momentum for these job titles," said Kory Kantenga, the head of economics, Americas, at LinkedIn. "Companies are just gorging on AI talent."

Between 2023 and 2025, LinkedIn added 639,000 AI-related job postings in the U.S., 75,000 of which were AI engineer roles.

What is an AI engineer?

AI engineer is the fastest-growing job title for young people for the second year in a row, according to LinkedIn. The job responsibilities are broad, but generally involve building and running AI products, including AI agents and Large Language Models (LLMs), and integrating them into a business's workflow. 

"Ultimately, it comes down to building models, meaning that they're building something that can make a decision or make some inference or identify some patterns, and then they need to be able to evaluate those models and update them accordingly," Kantenga explained,

The tech industry hires the most AI engineers, followed by financial services, according to Kantenga. A LinkedIn search for entry-level AI engineers also reveals job listings from defense contractors, universities and consulting firms. Employers hiring for the role bill it as a chance to "solve business challenges," "improve efficiency" and "eliminate repetitive, manual work," according to job descriptions on LinkedIn.

Young Americans can use help finding a job. The unemployment rate for people ages 20 to 24 was 6.4% in March, well above the overall U.S. rate of 4.3%, according to government . Although the jobless rate is typically higher for entry-level workers, some evidence suggests that some employers could be opting to plug in AI rather than hire younger, less experienced employees.

After ChatGPT launched in 2022, jobs involving structured and repetitive tasks fell by 13%, according to a recent  from Harvard Business School. 

Young people today often report applying for hundreds of jobs before they successfully land a role. Between December 2025 and February 2026, hiring for entry-level roles in the U.S. sank 6% compared with the same period the previous year, LinkedIn found.

"Getting started and breaking into the labor market right now probably does require a certain amount of AI aptitude, or AI literacy, to get ahead," Kantenga said, "because companies are increasingly looking for folks who can bring that skill into their company, help them actually scale up and figure out what they want to do and what the best use cases for AI are."

Edited by Alain Sherter

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