Major consulting firms slash entry-level hiring by 40% as AI tools absorb junior workloads
Three of the big four have cut analyst intake to a decade low. The work hasn’t disappeared — it’s being done by the layer above, with help.
London · April 2026
FO Take · Score 94
The graduate hiring freeze isn’t a blip in the cycle. It’s the first floor of the career ladder being quietly removed.
The strongest counter
This looks like a structural break, but every tech downturn since 2001 has produced the same headlines — and entry-level hiring eventually returned, restructured but intact.
Audit trail
·FT analysis of Big Four hiring data, Q1 2024–Q1 2026: analyst intake down 38–44% across UK, US, India.
·Goldman Sachs internal memo (leaked, March 2026): junior banker tasks reclassified as ‘AI-assisted’ in 71% of teams.
·Stanford Digital Economy Lab: ‘task displacement is concentrating at experience levels 0–2 years, not at the median.’
