Entry-level and junior developer roles are shrinking as AI coding assistants take on tasks — debugging, boilerplate generation, basic feature implementation — that once served as on-ramps for early-career engineers. The contraction is being observed across company sizes and sectors, with hiring managers reporting fewer open junior positions and a higher bar for those that remain. For engineering leaders and heads of talent, the immediate efficiency gain from AI tooling carries a structural risk: if the junior-developer pipeline narrows significantly, the supply of mid- and senior-level engineers in three to five years could be constrained. Organizations that value long-term talent development may need to deliberately preserve apprenticeship-style roles or structured mentorship programs to counteract the trend.