AI took your job

Today, Explained

Vox

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hundreds of job applications, but not one call. Young workers are frustrated, scared, and wondering where all the entry-level jobs went. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan and Rebeca Ibarra, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Andrea Kristinsdottir, and hosted by Noel King. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. Jobseekers at the Best Hire Chicago Career Fair. Photo by Jim Vondruska/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Something very strange is happening in the entry-level job market, especially for recent college
0:07.1	grads who are looking for white-collar jobs.
0:10.1	There are these stories about people applying to dozens and dozens of jobs.
0:15.0	After graduation, I applied to at least 80 to 100 different jobs.
0:19.2	A majority of those jobs haven't bothered in following up or contacting me to schedule an interview.
0:24.8	Never hearing anything back.
0:26.6	It's just a nightmare.
0:27.5	Like, everything's done with computers now.
0:30.7	No one wants to talk to each other.
0:32.3	And I'm literally having to, like, stalk people online.
0:35.0	And I hate doing it.
0:36.2	But how it's my supposed to get in contact with you
0:38.5	and the only way that I can get in contact with your whole company
0:40.9	is by talking to a chat bot on your website.
0:43.3	And wondering what, if anything, AIs got to do with it.
0:47.2	But I also wonder, am I just writing something for one AI to talk to another AI?
0:52.4	Ahead on today explained from Box,
0:57.2	why you're having so much trouble getting an entry-level job.
1:01.9	Support for today's show comes from Ecoflow.
1:02.8	That kind of rhymes.
1:06.5	Few things are more frustrating than when you have to charge your device but can't find an outlet. EcoFlow says that with their newly launched product, the Rapid Pro 27K, you never have to worry about outlet deserts again.
1:15.3	The power bank, powers, laptops, phones, cameras, drones, and more on a compact flight safe design and with up to 300 watts of total power.
	...

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