3 years after CEO Arvind Krishna said IBM will pause hiring, replace 7,800 jobs with AI; HR head says: We are tripling our hiring for…

In a sharp reversal from its 2023 stance, IBM has announced it will triple entry-level hiring across the US in 2026—including for the very roles its own CEO once said artificial intelligence would replace. Nickle LaMoreaux, IBM’s chief human resources officer, made the announcement at Charter’s Leading With AI Summit in New York this week. “And yes, it’s for all these jobs that we’re being told AI can do,” she said, adding that the hiring push will be “across the board,” spanning a wide range of departments.The move stands in stark contrast to what IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Bloomberg back in May 2023, when he said the company would pause hiring for back-office roles that AI could handle. At the time, Krishna estimated that roughly 7,800 jobs—about 30% of IBM’s 26,000 non-customer-facing workforce—could be replaced by AI and automation within five years. Roles in human resources and other non-customer-facing functions were first in the firing line.

IBM is hiring for AI-era roles, not old-school job descriptions

But here’s the catch—these aren’t the same entry-level jobs IBM was offering three years ago. LaMoreaux said she personally overhauled job descriptions for software developers and other positions to reflect how AI has reshaped the nature of work.“The entry-level jobs that you had two to three years ago, AI can do most of them,” she admitted. “So, if you’re going to convince your business leaders that you need to make this investment, then you need to be able to show the real value these individuals can bring now. And that has to be through totally different jobs.”

Junior devs at IBM now spend more time with customers, less time writing routine code

The result is a reshuffled set of responsibilities. IBM’s junior software developers now spend less time on routine coding—which AI tools handle comfortably—and more time working directly with customers. In HR, entry-level staffers step in when chatbots fall short, correcting AI output and talking to managers instead of fielding every employee query themselves.It’s a practical acknowledgment that AI hasn’t so much eliminated jobs as it has rewritten them.

Cutting early-career hiring now could cost companies more later, says IBM

LaMoreaux also made a pointed business case for the pivot. Slashing early-career recruitment might save money in the short term, but it risks creating a shortage of mid-level managers down the line. That forces companies to poach experienced talent from competitors—a more expensive route that also comes with longer onboarding times and weaker cultural fit.The concern isn’t just IBM’s. Last year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that half of entry-level office jobs could vanish by 2030. An MIT study from 2025 estimated that nearly 12% of jobs could already be automated by AI. Against that backdrop, IBM’s decision to lean into hiring rather than pull back is a notable bet.Dropbox is making a similar move, expanding its internship and new graduate programmes by 25%. Its chief people officer Melanie Rosenwasser said younger workers are simply better at using AI than their seniors. “It’s like they’re biking in the Tour de France and the rest of us still have training wheels,” she said.IBM declined to share specific hiring numbers. But the message is clear—even in the age of AI, companies need people. Just not for the same jobs.