{
  "id": 2415328,
  "title": "AI Jobs Are Booming for Gen Z, Not Everyone",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/21/ai-jobs-are-booming-for-gen-z-not-everyone",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-21T17:35:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PYMNTS",
    "slug": "pymnts",
    "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/ai-jobs-are-booming-gen-z-not-everyone/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Artificial intelligence (AI) has exploded as a field, creating a surge of job opportunities for Generation Z, particularly those with hands-on technical expertise in AI systems. According to LinkedIn research, 69% of new hires for forward-deployed engineers and AI engineers were members of Generation Z in 2025, commanding median salaries of $199,000 and $166,000 respectively. In contrast, the next highest-ranking AI role, \"head of AI,\" saw millennials dominate, comprising 60% of new hires and earning a median salary of $236,000. This shift has created a condensed career timeline, rewarding technical fluency in a technology that's only five years old, rather than traditional seniority. The AI job market has grown by 156% between 2024 and 2025, with the median AI role now paying $177,000, more than double the median for non-AI roles. However, the rapid growth comes at the expense of entry-level jobs as AI takes over routine tasks. Young workers aged 22 to 25 in AI-exposed occupations have seen a 19% relative decline in employment, while those with AI expertise are being pulled ahead in the job market. Despite the growth in AI hiring, women make up only 26% of new AI hires, with a significant pay gap at higher levels of the job market. Overall, the AI job market is splitting between a small group of young, technically skilled workers and everyone else, who are competing for a shrinking supply of entry-level roles.",
  "summary": "Artificial intelligence has not been around long enough to reward seniority the way most fields do, and that gap is starting to show up in who gets hired. Generation Z accounted for 69% of new hires for two of the highest-paying individual contributor roles in AI in 2025, forward-deployed engineers and AI engineers, The Wall […] The post AI Jobs Are Booming for Gen Z, Not Everyone appeared first…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}