Global youth unemployment rose to 12.4% in 2025, leaving 67 million people aged 15 to 24 without work, according to a new International Labour Organisation (ILO) report. The same report found that more than 257 million young people are not in employment, education, or training, and it warns that AI-driven job displacement is compounding the problem.
The ILO said the tentative recovery in youth labour markets that followed the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled. Youth unemployment rates increased in eight of the world's 11 subregions between 2023 and 2025, with some of the sharpest rises in higher-income economies. In Northern America, the rate climbed from 8.3% in 2023 to 9.8% in 2025, while Northern, Southern, and Western Europe held at 15%, with 20 of 29 countries in that subregion reporting worsening prospects for young workers.
AI's impact on entry-level jobs
The report estimates that 6.1% of jobs held by workers aged 15 to 29 are in occupations highly exposed to AI-driven change. Many of those are middle-skilled clerical, administrative, and service roles that have traditionally served as entry points into the labour market. If only 10% of AI-exposed jobs disappeared entirely, the ILO said, 5.6 million employed young people - largely in high-income countries - would face unemployment, job changes, or exiting the workforce.
"There is increasing noise around AI," said Sukti Dasgupta, ILO Director of the Employment, Skills and Sustainable Enterprises Department. "While the direct impact on jobs is still unclear, we must not be complacent and underestimate the risks."
For HR teams, this points to a growing need to understand which roles are most exposed to automation and how to plan for workforce shifts. Training programmes that help employees build technical and cognitive skills are becoming a core part of that response, and resources like AI for Human Resources can support HR professionals in identifying the skills their organisations will need.
ILO calls for skills investment
ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo said the consequences of rising youth unemployment extend beyond individual hardship. "A generation that cannot find decent work cannot build its future with confidence. When young people are locked out of quality employment, countries lose talent, productivity and social cohesion," he said. "Creating decent jobs for young people is not just a social imperative, it is one of the smartest investments a country can make."
The ILO is calling for stepped-up investment in skills, lifelong learning, and social protection so young people can adapt to technological change. It also recommends a "human-centred approach to AI governance" and stronger lifelong learning systems. Dasgupta stressed that technological progress must work for young people, not against them.
Why this matters for HR professionals
For HR teams, the report is a signal that entry-level hiring pipelines are under pressure from two directions at once: a stalled youth labour market and AI-driven change in the very roles that have historically launched careers. That has practical implications for recruitment, workforce planning, and internal development. HR departments that build AI literacy into their own operations and into employee training will be better positioned to identify which roles are at risk and which skills need building. An AI Learning Path for HR Managers is one way to start that process, particularly for teams responsible for reskilling and succession planning.
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