UK funds £20m alliance to track AI’s impact on entry-level tech jobs
Digital and tech goes first because it is so exposed to AI, putting its entry-level roles under joint study by employers, unions and government
- Co-chairs: Katie Gallagher, managing director of Manchester Digital, and Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union
- Gallagher is also the government’s AI champion for the digital and technologies sector
- After digital and tech, the alliance is due to extend to all eight Industrial Strategy sectors
- A North East pilot with Sage, Accenture and Microsoft, due in early 2027, will offer at least six months of work with AI job training to 18 to 24-year-olds out of work or education
Junior hiring in tech has moved from a private staffing choice to a question ministers and unions want answered in public. Employers that have replaced graduate intake with AI tools should expect to be asked how new staff will now learn the trade. Firms that can show a redesigned junior role, rather than a missing one, are likely to set the benchmark the alliance reports back on.
“As AI reshapes entry-level work, we have a chance to lead by example and create better pathways for young people.”Katie Gallagher, managing director, Manchester Digital
The government is putting £20m into an Early Careers Jobs Alliance, announced by technology secretary Liz Kendall ahead of London Tech Week in June 2026, to track how AI is changing entry-level work and help employers redesign junior roles. Its first report is due in autumn 2026.
The alliance starts with the digital and technologies sector, which the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) chose because of its “high exposure and uptake of AI”. It brings together government, employers, trade unions and young people. DSIT says it will produce practical help for businesses on redesigning roles while keeping entry-level pathways open, and will collect early examples of good practice.
The concern is public as well as commercial. In her speech to the AI Adoption Summit on 8 June, Kendall said a clear majority of the public think AI will reduce more jobs than it creates or enhances, and that only one in 10 young people believe its benefits will be shared fairly. The same package adds free AI bootcamps for school leavers in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, with a paid Level 3 apprenticeship guaranteed to those who finish, backed by employers including PA Consulting and Agilisys.
Sources
- DSIT and DWP, “Entry-level jobs support, AI bootcamps and tech training as government supports young people into the jobs of the future”, press release, 6 June 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/entry-level-jobs-support-ai-bootcamps-and-tech-training-as-government-supports-young-people-into-the-jobs-of-the-future
- DSIT, “Liz Kendall’s speech at AI Adoption Summit”, speech, 8 June 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/liz-kendalls-speech-at-ai-adoption-summit
