Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/339320 
Year of Publication: 
2026
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2/2026
Publisher: 
Örebro University School of Business, Örebro
Abstract: 
We show that the age composition of employment within Swedish employers shifts after the arrival of generative AI, with no corresponding reduction in aggregate labour demand. Using 4.6 million job advertisements from Sweden's largest recruitment platform, we find that the broad decline in postings since 2022 aligns with monetary tightening rather than AI, exploiting Sweden's seven-month gap between the Riksbank's first rate hike and the launch of ChatGPT as a timing test. We then use full-population employer- employee register data and an employer-level difference-in-differences design to estimate how AI exposure affects employment composition across six age groups. An event study documents an accelerating decline in employment of 22-25-year-olds in high-AI-exposure occupations, reaching 5.5 per cent by early 2025 relative to less exposed occupations within the same employers, while employment of workers over 50 rose by 1.3 per cent. The widening age gradient suggests that generative AI reshapes hiring composition rather than aggregate demand, with the adjustment burden falling disproportionately on entry-level workers.
Subjects: 
Generative artificial intelligence
Job postings
Labour demand
Employment composition
Monetary policy
JEL: 
J23
J24
O33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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