Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman has issued a blunt warning to companies considering the replacement of junior employees with artificial intelligence (AI), calling it “one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.”
Speaking on the Matthew Berman Podcast, Matt challenged the growing trend among tech firms to reduce entry-level hiring in favor of AI tools, arguing that such decisions could severely damage long-term talent pipelines and organizational resilience.
Shortly before Matt made his remarks, the company specified that it had laid off hundreds of employees, though it did not clarify which roles were affected.
Amazon has cut more than 22,000 jobs across its broader ecosystem since 2022 as part of restructuring efforts.
While AWS CEO Matt’s stance may appear contradictory, he maintains that companies must continue investing in junior talent to ensure long-term viability.
Junior Employees: Cost-Effective and AI-Ready
Matt emphasized that junior employees are not only the most cost-effective segment of the workforce but also the most enthusiastic adopters of AI tools.
He said, “You probably pay these employees the least, and they engage most actively with your AI tools,” emphasizing their adaptability and openness to new technologies.
He questioned the sustainability of a strategy that sidelines young talent: “How’s that going to work when ten years in the future you have no one that has built up or learned anything?”
Matt warned that eliminating entry-level roles today could leave companies without experienced mid-level professionals tomorrow.
A Counterpoint to Industry Optimism
Matt’s comments stand in contrast to views expressed by other tech leaders.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has suggested that AI agents are already capable of performing tasks comparable to those handled by junior staff.
Separately, Google’s Chief Scientist Jeff Dean predicted that within a year, AI could reach the skill level of a junior software engineer.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei went further, warning that half of all entry-level white-collar jobs could vanish within five years.
Despite AWS’s own investment in AI tools like Kiro, Matt insists that AI should augment—not replace—human talent.
He criticized the popular metric of measuring AI’s success by the percentage of code it writes, calling it “silly.”
“Often times fewer lines of code is way better than more lines of code,” he said, underscoring the importance of quality over quantity in software development.
AWS CEO’s Career Advice for the AI Era
In addition to his critique, Matt offered guidance for students and early-career professionals.
He urged them to focus on developing critical thinking, creativity, and a learning mindset rather than mastering a single technical skill.
“If you spend all of your time learning one specific thing… I can promise you that’s not going to be valuable 30 years from now,” he said.
This perspective reflects a broader shift in how tech leaders view workforce development in the age of AI—not as a binary choice between humans and machines, but as a collaborative evolution.
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