Job Hunting Gets Tougher, Yet Billionaire Bosses Say This

The working class worldwide is haunted by anxiety due to the increasingly significant development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Many people fear losing their jobs in the future, especially as the wave of layoffs continues.

However, wealthy entrepreneurs and tech giants insist that AI will bring more benefits to human life. Some say AI will indeed cut some jobs, but at the same time create new ones.

One wealthy entrepreneur with an optimistic view on AI development is Orlando Bravo, the billionaire founder of private equity giant Thoma Bravo. He said AI will bring transformation for junior workers by cutting tasks he describes as ‘grunt work’.

In an interview with CNBC International’s Annette Weisbach at the SuperReturn conference in Berlin, Bravo said junior employees’ jobs will become more ‘significant’ and they will mature faster.

‘Overall, now they [junior workers] are really focused on operational investing and a much broader way of thinking about the business,’ Bravo was quoted as saying by CNBC International on Thursday (11/6/2026).

‘I bother them a lot less, because at midnight I can do something very quickly with AI rather than calling them to do it in the middle of the night, which ultimately improves their quality of life, and that’s what they want,’ he added.

Bravo’s comments come amid rising concerns about youth unemployment. The latest data released by the Office for National Statistics in May 2026 showed a worrying phenomenon in the UK.

The data showed the number of young people who are completely unemployed (not in education, employment, or training), often termed ‘NEET’, surged sharply to over 1 million during the first four months of 2026.

Young people must contend with an increasingly competitive job market in the United States (US) and the UK, amid rampant company layoffs and sluggish new hiring. This is partly driven by AI adoption capable of automating many tasks. As a result, junior-level jobs become vulnerable and easily cut.

However, this is not a concern for Bravo. He and many other wealthy individuals who are also reaping the benefits of AI development appear to turn a blind eye to the reality faced by the broader working class.

‘For young people, AI is going to be amazing. I’m very, very sad that a lot of people say AI is going to destroy junior-level jobs,’ Bravo said.

‘If you define an associate’s role as just doing spreadsheets, you don’t need them, but our associates now contact companies more often. They develop relationships with CEOs, and we need more of them,’ he added.

Bravo explained that for the first time in his 30-year private equity career, he needs to hire more people because AI is creating more jobs.

Although some, like Bravo, are more optimistic about AI’s ability to create jobs, there have been numerous AI-related layoffs over the past year, with the technology causing over 50,000 redundancies in the US in 2025.

Major companies such as Salesforce, IBM, and Microsoft cited AI as a reason for layoffs.

Meta said last April it planned to let go of about 10% of its workforce to offset massive capital expenditure on AI infrastructure this year, which the tech giant said could reach up to US$135 billion in 2026.

Meanwhile, Jack Dorsey’s Block laid off more than 4,000 people, or over half its workforce, saying it could operate more efficiently with a smaller team as AI automates more work.

As young people struggle to find jobs, UK Technology Minister Liz Kendall said the government is focused on upskilling young workers in AI by providing free courses to help boost employment.

Entry-level workers with AI skills could earn up to 25% higher salaries, according to the latest data from the world’s largest recruitment firm, Randstad.

‘We will help people through job transitions, we’ll give them skills, we’ll redesign those entry-level jobs,’ Kendall said in conversation with CNBC International’s Ritika Gupta on ‘Squawk Box Europe’.

‘We have a goal to upskill 10 million workers by 2030. That’s a third of the workforce, and we’ve already delivered 1.7 million AI skills courses. The truth is: you are more likely to get a job and get a higher-paying job with AI skills, and that’s why we are putting such a huge emphasis on it,’ she added.