As artificial intelligence reshapes entry-level work, employers face an increasingly awkward talent problem: young professionals need experience to qualify for jobs, while many of the jobs that once provided that experience are changing or disappearing. EY US is attempting to address that gap with the EY Career Residency, an eight- to 12-month paid pathway that combines academic study with client experience, coaching and technology-focused skills development.

The traditional internship has become an increasingly imperfect bridge between education and employment. An eight-week placement can provide exposure to a workplace, but it rarely gives early-career professionals enough time to develop substantial judgment, build relationships or demonstrate what they can do.

EY’s new Career Residency takes a longer approach.

The program extends beyond a conventional internship into an eight- to 12-month paid learning experience. Participants remain engaged with their academic studies while working on EY assignments, combining remote and in-person experiences with coaching and skills development.

The goal is not simply to create another internship pipeline. EY is positioning the residency as an alternative entry point into professional services at a time when AI is changing what junior employees are expected to contribute.

That distinction matters.

Generative AI and automation are increasingly taking on routine analytical, administrative and research tasks that historically gave graduates their first exposure to professional work. At the same time, employers increasingly want candidates who can exercise judgment, communicate effectively and work with technology from the outset.

Deloitte’s 2025 Global Human Capital Trends research found that 66% of managers and executives said most recent hires were not fully prepared for their roles, with lack of experience the most common shortcoming. The same research argues that organizations need to rethink how workers acquire experience as traditional entry-level pathways become less reliable.

EY’s response is essentially to manufacture more of that experience.

Residents will work on meaningful EY assignments while developing critical thinking, professional judgment, curiosity, collaboration, communication and AI and technology fluency. Those capabilities are increasingly relevant across audit, consulting, tax, technology risk and other professional-services disciplines.

The approach also reflects a shift in what employers mean by “AI-ready.”

Technical proficiency matters, but EY is emphasizing skills that are harder to automate. Ginnie Carlier, EY Americas chief talent and culture officer, described judgment, curiosity and trust as particularly important human capabilities in an AI-powered workplace.

That philosophy extends beyond the residency itself.

EY is also introducing Skills Arcade, an optional immersive learning experience that uses gamified workplace scenarios to assess how participants make decisions, collaborate, learn and adapt. Participants receive a personalized Skills Card describing their strengths and working style, which EY says can be used to connect those insights with workplace skills and future development opportunities.

The model resembles a growing HR technology trend toward skills-based talent management.

Rather than treating a degree, job title or number of years of experience as the primary proxy for potential, employers are increasingly trying to identify specific capabilities and then build those capabilities through structured experiences.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 estimates that 39% of workers’ existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated between 2025 and 2030. It also identifies AI, big data and cybersecurity among the fastest-growing technology skill areas while emphasizing continuing demand for creative thinking, resilience and adaptability.

For universities and students, EY’s approach could change the economics of early-career development.

A longer paid placement offers students something an internship often cannot: enough time to move from observation into contribution. It can also give employers more time to assess candidates before making full-time hiring decisions.

For EY, the arrangement creates a potentially deeper talent pipeline.

Residents who complete the program may have the opportunity to join EY US full-time as analysts. Some may then participate in 360 Careers, EY’s structured development experience spanning areas such as audit, tax and technology risk. The program can also provide a route toward CPA qualification for relevant participants.

The strategy sits within EY US’s previously announced $1 billion investment in compensation and technology, suggesting that the residency is part of a larger attempt to redesign the firm’s talent model rather than a standalone campus recruiting initiative.

There are competitive parallels across the technology and professional-services ecosystem.

Companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Salesforce have invested heavily in apprenticeships, early-career programs, technical academies and skills development. Consulting and accounting firms including PwC, Deloitte and KPMG likewise compete for graduates while adapting their training models to an AI-enabled workplace.

The differentiator will therefore be execution.

An eight- to 12-month residency is more expensive and operationally complex than a short internship. Participants require meaningful work, coaching and managers capable of providing feedback. If the experience becomes primarily observational or administrative, its value as a talent-development model diminishes.

There is also a measurement question.

HR leaders adopting similar models will need to determine whether longer early-career pathways improve retention, productivity, internal mobility and time-to-proficiency. Skills assessments such as EY’s Skills Card may provide useful signals, but the real test is whether those signals predict performance and career progression.

That is where HR technology could become increasingly important.

Skills intelligence platforms, learning-management systems, talent marketplaces and workforce analytics can help organizations connect learning experiences with measurable capabilities. The emerging HRTech stack is moving toward a model in which recruiting, learning and internal mobility are less separate processes and more connected stages of one talent lifecycle.

EY’s Career Residency fits squarely into that transition.

The program recognizes a paradox in the AI labor market: technology may eliminate some of the routine work that historically trained junior professionals, while simultaneously increasing demand for people who can reason, communicate and collaborate with AI.

The answer may not be to preserve yesterday’s entry-level jobs.

It may be to deliberately create new ways for people to acquire the experience those jobs once provided.

Market Landscape

The early-career talent market is being reshaped by two opposing forces: organizations need adaptable workers with technology skills, while automation is reducing some of the routine work traditionally used to train new employees.

Deloitte’s research puts the issue starkly: 66% of surveyed managers and executives said recent hires were not fully prepared, while 73% of executives and 72% of workers said organizations should do more to provide opportunities to build experience.

The World Economic Forum estimates that 39% of existing worker skill sets will change or become outdated through 2030.

That is creating demand for skills-based hiring, work-integrated learning, apprenticeships, internal mobility and continuous reskilling.

EY’s residency competes indirectly with conventional internships, university recruiting, graduate programs and apprenticeship models. Its longer duration is the key strategic distinction: participants can build experience while still completing their education.

For enterprise HR teams, the model offers a possible blueprint for addressing the experience gap without simply raising minimum experience requirements.

Top Insights

• EY’s Career Residency creates an eight- to 12-month paid pathway combining academic study, client work, coaching and AI-focused skills for early-career professionals.
• The program responds to an experience gap as AI automates routine entry-level tasks while employers increasingly value judgment, communication, adaptability and technology fluency.
• Skills Arcade adds gamified workplace simulations and personalized skills profiles, reflecting the broader shift toward skills-based talent management and assessment.
• Residents may transition into EY analyst roles and later participate in 360 Careers, creating a longer talent-development pathway beyond conventional campus recruiting.
• Enterprise HR teams can view the model as a blueprint for rebuilding early-career experience through paid work-integrated learning rather than relying solely on traditional internships.

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