Welcome back to The AI Shift, our weekly exploration of AI’s impact on the world of work. This week, we’re looking at the progression routes people take through the labour market. This topic has received plenty of attention when it comes to young graduates. But what about people who didn’t go to university? Many of them enter the white-collar workforce too. So what does AI mean for their prospects to progress into better work?

John writes

There has been a flurry of recent research making the case that those without a degree may end up seeing just as much career disruption from AI as the graduate class. The latest example is a report published today by US non-profits the Brookings Institution and Opportunity@Work, which looks at occupational disruption through a new lens, viewing particular jobs not necessarily as ends unto themselves but as crucial stepping stones on a journey from low to high-paid work for non-college-educated workers.