The first rung of the career ladder is disappearing. AmeriCorps can help rebuild it.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the labor market, particularly for young adults seeking their first foothold in the workforce.
For generations, entry-level jobs helped young people learn how to work. Junior employees developed professional habits, built networks, learned workplace norms, and gained the experience necessary to advance into leadership roles. Today, many of those opportunities are disappearing as AI automates the routine administrative, analytical, customer service, research, and coding tasks that once formed the foundation of early careers.
The result is not simply fewer jobs. It is the erosion of the traditional pathway from education to employment and from potential to opportunity. Young people are increasingly finding that the first rung of the career ladder has become harder to reach or has disappeared entirely. Entry-level job postings have fallen sharply in recent years, while employers continue to demand experience for positions intended for new entrants to the workforce.
This white paper argues that an important part of the solution already exists: AmeriCorps.
For more than three decades, AmeriCorps has provided young adults with opportunities to serve their communities while gaining the experience, professional competencies, and leadership skills needed to succeed in the workforce. Far more than a civic engagement program, AmeriCorps functions as an earn-and-learn workforce development platform that prepares participants for careers in education, health care, conservation, disaster response, public service, and the private sector.
AmeriCorps members step into real-world, high-responsibility roles where decisions have real consequences and human relationships matter. They tutor students, support veterans, improve public health, strengthen neighborhoods, respond to disasters, and solve complex challenges alongside local partners. In doing so, they develop the durable skills that employers increasingly value and that AI cannot easily replicate: communication, judgment, teamwork, adaptability, leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
As AI changes the nature of work, the labor market is placing greater value on distinctly human capabilities. The skills often dismissed as “soft skills” are quickly becoming the durable skills that drive long-term success in an AI-enabled economy. AmeriCorps is uniquely positioned to help develop those capabilities through immersive, team-based service in communities across the country.
Rather than creating entirely new government programs, policymakers have an opportunity to build upon an existing bipartisan institution with a proven track record of strengthening communities and preparing workers for the future economy. With more than 2,000 partner organizations operating in approximately 40,000 locations nationwide and a demonstrated return on investment, AmeriCorps offers a scalable and politically durable response to the workforce challenges created by AI.
AmeriCorps is not simply a service program for the AI era.
It is workforce infrastructure for the AI era.
Explore the Research and Resources
Download the Executive Summary
A concise overview of the paper’s findings, workforce trends, and policy recommendations.
Download the full White Paper
An in-depth examination of AI-driven labor market disruption, the decline of entry-level opportunities, and the case for modernizing AmeriCorps as a workforce strategy.
Read our Related Blog
Explore policy recommendations for positioning AmeriCorps to meet emerging workforce needs.
View the Press Release
Read the announcement introducing the paper and its key findings.
Visit EDSAFE AI Alliance’s webpage
Explore additional analysis, partner perspectives, and supporting materials from the EDSAFE AI Alliance.