The next generation of workers is finding it harder to take a bite into the Big Apple’s tech market.
NYC entry-level tech job postings have fallen 49% from 2022 to 2025, the largest decline of any other career field, according to the think tank Center for an Urban Future’s September report “Strengthening NYC’s Entry-Level Tech Pathways in the Age of AI.”
As the title of the report suggests, one culprit for the decline in entry-level tech jobs might be AI. Business Insider has reported on the impact of generative AI on the job market, hitting recent college grads and early professionals the hardest as entry-level positions dry up. The report indicates that early-career tech workers in New York City are finding it hardest to break into the market, especially as the number of college graduates capable of doing the job outnumbers the number of actual postings.
“The supply of new college graduates with computer science and related degrees in New
York City eclipsed entry-level tech job postings in 2023 for the first time since data collection began in 2010,” the report said.
In NYC, entry-level tech jobs declined across nearly every industry, except for two — transportation and warehousing, and public administration. The latter saw an especially large increase, up 230% since 2022. Meanwhile, educational services and retail trade had the sharpest declines in entry-level job postings in tech, at 69% and 67%, respectively.
Jonathan Bowles, executive director of CFU, said this difference in growth could be because sectors like transportation and warehousing, and public administration, were playing catch-up compared to other early-adopting sectors that are now pulling back.
Tech employment isn’t falling — it’s stagnant
The overall number of tech jobs in NYC has not fallen, but instead has remained stagnant over the past three years, compared with previous years of significant growth.
“The problem isn’t that people were getting laid off left and right,” Bowles said. “The problem is that they’re not getting into the job market in the first place at the lower rungs.”
Yet, since 2022, there has been a growing demand for entry-level AI jobs, and the demand for AI- related skills has grown by over 8,000% in entry-level tech job postings, according to the report. That’s likely no surprise, as ChatGPT was released in November 2022, kicking off the current AI boom.
Although there had not been enough jobs created in the AI sector to offset the decline in entry-level tech jobs, Bowles said that this could even out in the future.
“New York is seeing significant growth in AI companies and real growth in companies across tech that are hiring for people with AI skills,” Bowles said. “As that accelerates in the years ahead, I think there is potential for it to outweigh the kind of reductions that are happening.”
The report’s policy recommendations center on encouraging young professionals to build experience that will make them more attractive to NYC tech employers, rather than turning away from the sector altogether.
“Put them to work on civic tech, working for government, for nonprofits, for small businesses,” Bowles said. “There are clear opportunities to get people the experience that would help them in the job market, and that’s what we recommend.”
AI and economic uncertainty
The report highlights that AI is not the only force at play.
When ChatGPT was introduced, entry-level tech hiring was already facing a decline.
“Rising interest rates beginning in March 2022 cooled tech investment and pushed companies to prioritize profitability over growth,” the report indicated. “As margins tightened, the AI arms race redirected capital away from head count and toward data centers and compute infrastructure.”
As AI changed what the workspace looked like, economic uncertainty, driven by inflation, tariffs, and geopolitical instability, created the “perfect storm for early-career tech jobs.” This impact was “exacerbated” by the high cost of hiring in NYC, leading companies to prioritize cost containment over head count expansion.
In general, jobs with the highest generative AI exposure are seeing the biggest drop, 29%, in entry-level job postings since 2022, while jobs with minimal exposure saw 21% growth, the report indicated.
Yet, Bowles said the NYC tech sector will remain strong thanks to its diversity. “I’m still bullish on tech in New York City, I think it really continues to be one of the most important parts of the city’s economy,” Bowles said. “New York is not just a one-trick pony in tech, and so I think that that bodes well for future growth in tech employment in New York City.”
NYC is not the only city with disruptions in early-level tech hiring. Cities like Miami and Boston have seen similar trends, Bowles said. Yet, NYC’s high cost of living could drive early tech talent to seek jobs elsewhere if they are left unemployed and unable to afford high rents.
“New York is better positioned than probably anywhere else in terms of continuing to attract talent and holding on to it,” he said. But, “it’s so damn expensive to live here, that there’s a risk of people potentially moving if there aren’t opportunities.”
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