By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-10-02 21:52:07 | Updated at 2026-10-03 23:54:50
1 day ago
New York City’s artificial intelligence boom is drawing billions of dollars in investment and helping revive Manhattan’s office market, but that shift is also making it harder for young workers to begin white-collar careers in the city.
AI companies leased more than 2.2 million square feet of New York office space during the first half of 2026, more than twice their total for all of last year, according to a report released Thursday by the Partnership for New York City, a coalition of more than 300 corporate, investment, and entrepreneurial leaders.
Thirteen existing AI firms alone expanded their footprints by a combined 1.2 million square feet, the report found.
Investment has surged alongside leasing. New York AI startups raised a record $16.7 billion in venture capital in 2025, making the city the nation’s second-largest AI investment hub behind the San Francisco Bay Area.
AI Growth Outpaces Hiring
But the growth in investment and office leasing has not translated into equally strong hiring for office workers.
Through August, employment increased just 0.6 percent in financial services and was virtually unchanged in professional and business services. Employment in the information sector, meanwhile, fell nearly 2 percent, according to the Partnership.
The shift has been particularly pronounced at the entry level. Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, annual entry-level job postings have fallen 40.6 percent in design, media, and writing occupations, 34.4 percent in customer and client support, and 30.5 percent in clerical and administrative jobs.
Entry-level postings in business management and operations fell 26.8 percent, while finance postings declined 23.4 percent.
At the same time, entry-level postings that specifically seek AI skills increased 55 percent.
The report said employers are not simply looking for workers with general knowledge of AI. They increasingly want employees who can use, manage, and adapt AI systems in everyday workplace settings.
Companies are also beginning to envision AI agents working alongside employees who can design, deploy, and supervise them. That shift could reduce the need for workers performing routine tasks that have traditionally served as entry points into white-collar careers.
AI Reshapes Career Pathways
The Partnership compared the trend with the computerization of office work during the 1980s, when new technology reduced demand for some entry-level positions. The report said the adoption of AI, however, is unfolding much faster.
The effects may also extend beyond traditional white-collar occupations.
About 49 percent of career pathways available to workers without bachelor’s degrees are already exposed to AI, according to the report, suggesting that the technology could reshape employment opportunities across a much broader part of the workforce.
“The current landscape of AI adoption risks eroding New York City’s white-collar career pipeline and jeopardizing the historical link between entry-level work and upward mobility,” the report states.
It warned that, just as computerization displaced some workers with limited skills, AI automation could widen the gap between employees who can adapt to AI-enabled jobs and those who cannot.
Other data point to similar pressures on younger workers. A May report from the New York City comptroller found that, during the 12 months ending in March, the unemployment rate among college graduates ages 22 to 27 reached 7.3 percent.
That was slightly above the 7.1 percent rate for young adults without college degrees, the first time such a gap had appeared in the available data.
The comptroller did caution that it remains difficult to determine how much of the hiring slowdown can be attributed directly to AI.
Rising Costs Add to Pressure
Those employment challenges come as the cost of establishing a life in New York continues to rise.
The citywide median asking rent reached a record $4,199 in May, up 7.3 percent from a year earlier, according to apartment search platform StreetEasy. Renters were also competing for a limited supply of apartments, with listings receiving nearly 64 percent more inquiries than in May 2019.
The Partnership said those pressures could undermine one of New York’s traditional economic strengths: its ability to attract young professionals willing to move to the city to begin their careers.
“New York has an opportunity to lead in this next era of innovation, but our success cannot be measured by investment alone,” Partnership President and CEO Steven Fulop said. “We also need to ensure that there is still a place for young people in our economy and that they can build rewarding careers here.”
The group recommended that the city pair efforts to attract AI investment with workforce programs that help employees learn how to use and supervise AI systems, while preserving viable entry points into professional careers.
