IS AI the black hole that sucks entry-level jobs — leaving college graduates in the galaxy of unemployment?
Will artificial intelligence automate your job, sucking you into the black hole, or is it going to augment your job and make you a star in the career solar system?
Long time ago, in a galaxy far away (paraphrasing the opening dialogue of the “Star Wars” saga), I was looking for an entry-level job in Sacramento, the capital of California. I did not bring any transcript of records or diploma since I had to escape the martial law regime of then-president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
It was 1980.
Sacto — as the state capital is known to locals — was a barren, unforgiving land for the inexperienced.
JCPenney and Sears Roebuck were then the flagship stores of the mall. I valiantly walked through the front doors of other stores, shops, offices along Florin Road with help wanted signs. All of them were asking for local experience. The only saving grace was that employers were not asking for social security cards or number, state identification card or driver’s license.
Although small, the Filipino community was the glimmer of hope. I found a job — first as a Filipino grocery store helper, then as a construction worker with a local landscaping firm — with my own cement mixer poured into molds for garden use.
Bobby, a second-generation Filipino American, and his wife, Priscilla from Stockton (B&P), were part of a Tupperware dinner hosting crew. They introduced me to the party-hosting business, where the hosts and invited friends get a free dinner prepared, then offered a discounted price for the attendees.
That was fun and filling. I had free dinner almost every other night.
Until B&P said I should do it on my own to get my own commission and earnings instead of being a “freeloader.”
Bobby even lent me his spare, gas-guzzling Impala to drive to potential hosts. One time, I got stuck on the freeway, had to walk to the nearest station with a gallon, walked back to the car and poured the fuel into the Chevrolet’s tank.
Sweaty and exhausted, I had to cancel the dinner date.
I was also down to my last $50.
Entry-level job hunt experience
Before leaving the Philippines, I had contact information from classmates at the Philippine College of Commerce (now PUP). Roy Tandoc, who had a thriving life insurance business, asked me to come join him in the Land of the Freeways. With only $50 in my pocket, I had to pawn my watch to get passage on Greyhound and with extra dollars to spare.
Roy (a co-Student Catholic Action member) was very accommodating. He even lent me his gas card for an extra vehicle to use to start.
But as an “entry-level job seeker,” I did not have sufficient prospects to sell life insurance. Besides, my first attempt to have a sale was an embarrassment. When they asked me about how long I’ve been in the US and my record of past clients, I was stumped.
With Roy’s car, I drove out of Los Angeles and into Santa Monica. I figured the best way to get a job was to find one where there would be less competition. Midnight shifts in restaurants were ideal.
Uncle John’s Restaurant — a chain of family diners in California and Arizona — had one on Wilshire Boulevard.
It was past lunchtime when I talked with Jeff, the night manager. After the preliminary introduction (and due to the fact that he was a third-generation Filipino American with parents from Hawaii), I said I was looking for any entry-level job: dishwasher or busboy, cashier or food server.
Jeff said he did not have any opening for any entry-level jobs. But he urgently needed an assistant manager for the graveyard shift. I said I’d had experience with Philippine establishments, and since each restaurant chain has its own set of rules from management to busboys, I said I could learn.
He said I could start the next night, and he would start my training together with Agustin, the Mexican night manager (who had moved up to the morning shift).
That was the start of my short-lived career in the restaurant/food service business.
Even then, entry-level jobs were not the easiest to find — in any sector. That was before the advent of the internet, mobile phones and AI.
Collapse of entry-level jobs and explosion of new labor entrants
Today, college graduates face a daunting employment landscape with AI sucking entry-level jobs dry.
“Research compiled by Rezi.ai found that entry-level finance positions have fallen by 24 percent since the generative AI boom began. A separate analysis from Lyneer Search Group found that hiring for 22- to 25-year-olds in finance dropped 6 percent since 2022, while hiring for workers aged 35-49 rose over 9 percent: not a cyclical clip but a structural repricing” with AI factored in (Forbes, March 6).
ILO’S Feb. 5, 2026, research posited that “based on a global index of occupation-based exposure, more than one-quarter of employment (or 12.7 million) is exposed to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the Philippines. This exposure rate is the highest among the Asean countries with recent and comparable data.”
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reports that every year, 1.5 million K-12 graduates and 500,000 college graduates enter the labor market — looking for entry-level jobs.
Even before the K-12 program, there was already a large pool of unemployed college graduates. Many are underemployed — in jobs that do not align with their level of education and training.
In a public forum on Aug. 14, 2025, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairperson Dr. Shirley Agrupis lamented that “half of the country’s college graduates remain unemployed... and should serve as a wake-up call for schools, students and policymakers.”
“In the data of the 25,000 interviewed, only 3,000 were hired,” she said.
Where are the local entry-level jobs for college graduates?
Online sources — JobStreet Philippines, Indeed and PhilJobNet — provide search engines for the former campus civilians and aspiring worker warriors.
As of March 6 this year, PhilJobNet — the Philippines’ official job-matching and LMI portal — showed 3,963 job openings, down by almost half from Oct. 9, 2025, when the portal had 6,162 jobs available.
JobStreet has 83,061 and Indeed yielded 20,000 results.
How about the nationwide Job Fairs by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)?
Last year, DOLE held 2,176 job fairs nationwide. Of the 529,158 jobseekers who attended, only 74,564 were immediately hired, leaving 454,494 jobless, hoping for better luck in the next job fair, even as a new set of 500,000 college graduates’ competitors for the few jobs available.
Without a starting job, a career is not possible.
In the Philippines, the successful individuals are those at the top of their fields: If you cannot become a popular athlete, artist, celebrity, politician, entrepreneur, or part of a political dynasty at home and still have not won the lottery — what, who, and where would you be?
Is going abroad the only way to escape the unemployment black hole at home?
