2-5 years of experience.
That’s the ‘kill zone’ according to Morgan Stanley’s recent AlphaWise AI survey.
UK companies cut 23% of roles while only hiring 15% back. Net loss: 8%. The survey points in the same direction elsewhere too. The US was the only outlier with a 2% gain.
One interesting signal is where the cuts are actually landing. They’re concentrated in the execution layer. The 2-5 year cohort.
Those who are too expensive for the juniors, but not yet definition-ready.
Companies are effectively pruning their middle management futures.
The risk is that by thinning this layer today, you create a talent vacuum tomorrow.
You can’t just skip those five years of experience. You eventually need people who know why things are done a certain way, not just how to prompt them.
This is the Signal: AI doesn’t just eat entry roles. It eats the career ladder.
