Do people need AI skills even for beginner jobs now? In 2026, the answer is often yes. In NACE’s spring 2026 survey, more than one-third of entry-level jobs required AI skills, almost three times the level reported in fall 2025. NACE also found that 28% of employers want early-career workers who can use AI in their work, and nearly 60% are giving interns projects that use AI tools. In its November 2025 report, NACE had already found that 10.5% of entry-level job posts required AI skills. (naceweb.org)

Large employers are changing their hiring decisions, too. In Microsoft and LinkedIn’s 2024 Work Trend Index, 66% of leaders said they would not hire someone without AI skills, and 71% said they would choose a less experienced candidate with AI skills over a more experienced candidate without them. The same report said 77% believe AI will give early-career workers greater responsibilities. (microsoft.com)

At the same time, not every job ad directly says “AI.” Indeed Hiring Lab reported that in the United States, job postings mentioning generative AI terms were still rare in January 2025, at about three in every 1,000 postings. But those mentions grew very quickly, rising 170% from January 2024 to January 2025. LinkedIn also said in April 2025 that AI literacy had become one of the most in-demand skills across jobs, and in January 2026 it called AI proficiency the top in-demand skill. (hiringlab.org)

This does not mean companies want only programmers. The World Economic Forum says AI and big data are rising fast, but creative thinking, flexibility, resilience, curiosity, and lifelong learning are also becoming more important. PwC’s 2025 AI Jobs Barometer adds a hopeful point: industries more exposed to AI had three times higher growth in revenue per employee, and wages in those industries rose twice as fast. So, for beginner workers, the best plan is simple: learn basic AI tools, but also build human skills that AI cannot easily replace. (weforum.org)