AI pressure grows on Richmond's young workforce
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the job market in Virginia and is likely to hit entry-level and younger workers particularly hard, a pair of recent reports found.
Why it matters: Younger workers and college grads were already facing a grim and "frozen" job market and AI is likely to make it worse.
The big picture: Roughly 1.5 million Virginia jobs could be affected by AI in the coming years, per a Virginia Chamber Foundation report looking at the effect of the technology on statewide jobs.
- "Affected" here doesn't mean eliminated, the report notes, but that some tasks are likely to be automated or augmented by AI, which could ultimately lead to fewer roles in the future.
- Software developers, managers, customer service reps and retail salespeople are among the careers in Virginia with the "greatest AI exposure" risk.
- And younger workers are likely to feel the risk exposure more acutely because entry-level tasks are the ones most likely to be automated.
By the numbers: In the Richmond region, 240,000 jobs (34.3% of all jobs) face AI exposure — that's the second-highest share in Virginia behind Northern Virginia, per the report.
- That includes 77,300 "young worker jobs" (workers ages 21–35).
- Statewide, nearly 500,000 young worker jobs are at risk of AI exposure.
Meanwhile, a separate report from the Greater Washington Partnership looking at the tech labor market in the Baltimore-to-Richmond region found that AI is already reshaping entry-level roles.
- Between 2022 and 2025 the number of tech job postings in the Baltimore-to-Richmond region sharply declined, dropping by 45%–54% for financial managers, data scientists and other computer-related jobs.
- Senior-level job postings also declined for the same fields over the same period, but only by 4%–28%.
The intrigue: Both reports found employers are increasingly looking for a talent pool with AI literacy, plus soft skills like communication and creative critical thinking over specific computer program knowledge.
Yes, but: There's some good news.
- The Richmond region is well positioned for AI readiness due to the availability of AI training resources, like ones offered by Richmond-based AI Ready VA and at the University of Richmond, per the Virginia Chamber report.
The bottom line: AI isn't wiping out jobs — yet — but it's rapidly shifting work and hiring.