AI agents could easily send college grad unemployment over 30%, ServiceNow CEO says

CNBC | Mar 13, 2026 | Samantha Subin

[anthropocene_x]

Artificial intelligence adoption could lead to significant job struggles for entry-level workers as companies boost productivity, according to ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott.

McDermott told “Squawk on the Street” on Friday that unemployment for new college graduates “could easily go into the mid-30s in the next couple of years.”

Across industries, businesses are slashing costs and cutting jobs with the help of new AI tools.

Last month, Block announced plans to cut nearly half its workforce as AI automates more work. Meanwhile, software firm Atlassian, which has seen its stock dive 54% this year on AI disruption fears, said this week it would lay off about 10% of its workforce to support AI investments.

Compared to previous technological revolutions, experts say AI is chipping away at many white-collar jobs, including coding and marketing roles, and allowing companies to reduce hiring and improve productivity with fewer workers.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: ai; aiagents; aitakeover; aitools; collegegrads; economy; jobs; labor; unemployment

[JZelle]

Great news for those who hate humans.

[Paladin2]

Don’t take out loans to study underwater jihad weaving....

[kvanbrunt2]

At some point the garbage going in will need to be discerned. That is were the big buck will be.

[pissant]

What a frickin pantload. Computers also made paper obsolete, remember?

[Oscar in Batangas]

Learn to plumb at the Jihad Learing Center??

[Theoria]

[fireman15]

So far nearly every company that has tried to replace workers with AI applications has run into a lot of problems and many have had to reverse this decision. As great as some of the models have gotten for certain applications... most are still not ready for prime time when it comes to replacing people.

[fireman15]

Here is the link to the article the thread is based on:

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/13/software-ai-agents-college-graduate-unemployment.html

[MinorityRepublican]

horse and buggy drivers are still unemployed..

[11th_VA]

I fed my blood test results into AI and got a more detailed readout than I ever received from a doctor - it’s not a promising career field IMH0

[TheDon]

They need to get the robots online soon to take over all manual labor. The new age of plenty will end the need for money and jobs.

[libertylover]

I hope (and suspect) that a lot of the new grad unemployment is concentrated in people whose degrees end in “Studies”.

[aquila48]

“The new age of plenty will end the need for money and jobs.”

May come to that.

Question is how will all those goods and services be distributed to humans?

Will everyone get equal amounts of the same things - how will they be allocated?

Who will decide what to build and how much? Will there be any luxury goods?

Will humans still produce things? If so what?

Will economics as we know it (market economy of supply and demand) disappear?

Will it be,”you will own nothing... and be happy”?

[Keyhopper]

Wait until they start replacing lawyers and politicians

[Getready]

Crappy AI probably better than modern grads...since they probably used it to pass their classes. Grads will probably use it in their job structure. So who needs the grad?

Plus AI constantly updates, shows up on time(usually).. doesn’t have to be seeking social justice, cannot be sexually harassed, doesn’t harass, doesn’t need safe spaces, doesn’t need a john, on duty 24/7....no pension, only computer “health” care. One IT person can handle many AI nodes. Will need one very good ,smart, reliable human grad to make sure AI isn’t giving out wrong info. That’s it.

[Getready]

The doctor may have edited all unnecessary comments or concerns in your particular case, cause the doctor knew you. So the doc will know which considerations can be ruled out.

AI will spit out everything in the data base and will not tell you how to know what info pertains to you.