The AI ​​is doing the work that the Junior did before

The labor panorama of the four great consultants in Spain (Deloitte, PWC, EY and KPMG) is about to turn That, a priori, it could be considered a mere change in the hiring criteria for the new employees: they will hire 20% less juniors profiles than in previous years.

However, the new rules that will apply known as Big Four They go much further to become a structural change for their future.

Tijeretazo to the hiring of juniors. According to information publishedby The confidentialBig Four are joining the trend that had already been observed in some US companies, and will reduce between 10% and 20% the hiring of professionals under 30 years. This is not an isolated phenomenon. According to published The newspaperin the United Kingdom a similar cut since 2022 has been applied.

This implies the elimination of between 700 and more than 1,400 junior jobs in Spain, a measure that, according to the sources consulted by The confidentialis being applied homogeneously in all business lines. However, this cut will be more notable in those areas where automation, such as finance, human resources, IT or marketing.

Replaced by an AI. The trend It is not new. The automation capacity provided by AI has caused large companies to apply AI to expedite routine and data analysis tasks – as the Preparation of reports o Contracts, validate data, review transactions – that Junior employees used to do as part of their learning process.

Such and as they counted in The New York TimesWhen these tasks are covered, companies no longer need such numerous juniors template because, de facto, AI agents become the assistants of the most senior profiles to make them more productive. The result: the learning chain of the professional career of these young people loses its first link formative.

Seniors profiles. The Reduction in hiring Junior profiles It implies a change towards priority hiring of senior personnel, increasing its incorporations between 8% and 10% for 2025. This change is carried out with the intention of strengthening the profiles with more experience and strategic vision for its clients, which allows them to open new business roads.

Digitization has transformed the business of consultants who no longer focus their model on the billing of consulting hours, but now customers pay for access to tools of artificial intelligence and automated processes that accelerate the delivery of results and They optimize efficiency of the projects.

The quarry model falls. The juniors profile cuts far beyond a conjunctural adjustment: this change modifies the traditional pyramidal model of the great consultants, whose base was permanently nourished by young professionals. This constant quarry of new employees allowed gradual training and internal promotion towards management and partners positions.

The reduction of that quarry puts at risk the future generation of managers and hinders the rotation and generational relief that characterized these companies.

Before they were employees, then customers. In addition, from the merely labor environment, the cut in the hiring of Junior profiles also threatens a key commercial pillar of the sector: many young employees, after a few years in the firm, made the leap to positions of responsibility in other companies. From that position, the new managers They hired the services of his “Alma Mater”, which was a constant source of new clients.

The loss of that virtuous circle can weaken one of the most relevant indirect roads of new business generation that these consultants currently have.

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Image | Wikimedia Commons (Luis García)