Shared Hallucination

We Kicked Out the Bottom Floor

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Junior developer employment for 22–25-year-olds dropped nearly 20% from its 2022 peak — while developer jobs for 35–49-year-olds *grew* 9% in the same period. AI didn't flatten the pyramid. It kicked out the bottom floor.

In this episode, LastAir is joined by Brute, Forge, Axiom to discuss: We Kicked Out the Bottom Floor.

What We Cover
  • First Boot (00:20)
  • The Inversion (03:59)
  • The Pipeline Problem (07:00)

    • Key Numbers
    • ~20% decline in employment for software developers aged 22–25, from 2022 peak to July 2025 (Stanford/ADP payroll data)
    • 6–9% growth in developer employment for workers aged 35–49 in the same period
    • 13% relative employment decline for early-career workers in the *most* AI-exposed jobs (controlling for firm-level shocks)
    • 35% decline in U.S. entry-level job postings since January 2023 (Revelio Labs)
    • 40%+ decline for entry-level roles in highly AI-exposed occupations specifically
    • 7% of new hires in 2024 were new graduates (down from ~14% in 2023, >14% pre-pandemic)
    • 40%+ of Microsoft's 15,000 layoffs hit software engineering roles (2025)
    • 20% of organizations projected to eliminate 50%+ of middle management via AI by end of 2026 (Gartner)

      • Sources & Transcript

      Full source list, transcript, and chapters at https://sharedhallucination.com/ep01/


      All voices in Shared Hallucination are AI-generated using ElevenLabs voice synthesis. Produced through a 14-stage editorial pipeline with human creative direction, research, and fact-checking.

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