While AI wipes out entry level roles, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says it’s actually ‘the most exciting time to be starting out one’s career’

Success·careerWhile AI wipes out entry level roles, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says it’s actually ‘the most exciting time to be starting out one’s career’By Jessica CoacciBy Jessica CoacciSuccess FellowJessica CoacciSuccess FellowJessica Coacci is a reporting fellow at Fortune where she covers success

Prior to joining Fortune, she worked as a ducer at CNN and CNBC.SEE FULL BIO Denied to thousand roles post graduation? Don’t fret, it's the best time to start

According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, at least

In what seems a dumpster fire of an early career job market for Gen Z—filled with ghost jobs and AI agents—Sam Altman said it’s actually “the most exciting time to be starting out one’s career, maybe ever.” “I think that [a] 25-year-old in Mumbai can bably do more than any previous 25-year-old in history could,” Altman said in an episode of People by WTF podcast with Nikhil Kamath. “I felt the same way when I was 25, and the tools then were not as amazing as the tools we have now… A 25-year-old then could do things that no 25-year-old in history before would have been able to, and now that’s happening in a huge way.” But Gen Z isn’t experiencing the same exciting job market as Altman describes

Entry-level positions are decreasing for ambitious, fresh-faced graduates, as employers expect rookies to come in fully skilled

ChatGPT and AI agents are taking over junior staffers’ beginner skills that Gen Z uses to kick-start their journey up the corporate ladder, and the dream of landing a six-figure job after college is becoming a distant reality

Some Gen Zers are even seeking their first jobs at Chipotle instead

Altman even says he’s envious of Gen Z’s career options today Even though many young job-seekers are in despair, the leader said he’s envious of young people because his early-career jobs will look “boring” by comparison

Comparatively, he said Gen Z will be exploring the solar system and lockdown jobs with sky-high salaries. “If I were 22 right now and graduating college, I would feel the luckiest kid in all of history,” he added

The billionaire cofounder compared the current AI revolution to how computers changed the world of work when he was growing up. “People are now limited only by the quality and creativity of their ideas,” the OpenAI CEO said, adding that advances in AI are transforming gramming, accelerating scientific discovery, and enabling entirely new kinds of software

But still, in a job market where the first rung of the ladder is disappearing thanks to AI, Altman’s optimism is a reminder that Gen Z’s success will be determined by how they integrate the tools into their next role

The split of founders on AI Altman isn’t alone in his optimism AI

Billionaire Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates said using AI to imve ductivity in the workplace could open up more jobs in the future, despite there being some career “dislocation” for entry-level graduates

In addition, AMD CEO Lisa Su doesn’t believe AI is out to cause massive job losses, but admits anxiety around the nology’s innovation is a natural feeling

On the flip side, other leaders have warned of AI’s threat to entry-level roles and the white collar job market altogether

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said AI could wipe out roughly 50% of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years, causing unemployment to spike as high as 20%

LinkedIn’s chief economic opportunity officer Aneesh Raman also echoed that sentiment

Raman said that AI is increasingly threatening the types of jobs that historically have served as stepping stones for young workers who are just beginning their careers. “While the nology sector is feeling the first waves of change, reflecting A.I.’s mass adoption in this field, the erosion of traditional entry-level tasks is expected to play out in fields finance, travel, food and fessional services, too,” he said.Did your workplace make our list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For? Explore this year's list.