Monday, September 22

Seyed M. Hosseini and Guy Lichtinger: Generative AI as Seniority-Biased Technological Change: Evidence from U.S. Résumé and Job Posting Data

  • Hybrid
  • Seminar
The DEL Seminar Series is proud to host a diverse roster of bright minds from around the world to discuss various subjects surrounding economics and technology.
Date
Monday, September 22, 2025
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On September 22, 2025, Seyed M. Hosseini and Guy Lichtinger of Harvard University visited our Seminar Series

Abstract

We study whether generative artificial intelligence (AI) constitutes a form of seniority-biased technological change, disproportionately affecting junior relative to senior workers. Using U.S. résumé and job posting data covering nearly 62 million workers in 285,000 firms (2015-2025), we track within-firm employment dynamics by seniority.

We identify AI adoption through a text-analysis approach that flags postings for dedicated “AI integrator” roles, signaling active implementation of generative AI. Difference-in-differences and triple-difference estimates show that, beginning in 2023Q1, junior employment in adopting firms declined sharply relative to non-adopters, while senior employment continued to rise.

The junior decline is driven primarily by slower hiring rather than increased separations. Heterogeneity by education reveals a U-shaped pattern: mid-tier graduates see the largest declines, while elite and low-tier graduates are less affected. Overall, the results provide early evidence of a seniority-biased impact of AI adoption and its mechanisms.

Read the paper here

Seyed Hosseini

PhD Student, Harvard University

Seyed M. Hosseini is a second-year PhD student in economics at Harvard University. Previously, he was a pre-doctoral research assistant at the London School of Economics (LSE), working at the Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM). He’s interested in Macro-Labor and how inequality interacts with macroeconomic outcomes in both the short and long runs.

Guy Lichtinger

PhD Student, Harvard University

Guy Lichtinger is an Economics grad student at Harvard University. Interested in Labor and Public. Previously, he was an Economics graduate student in the Bogen International Graduate Program at the Hebrew University. Before that, he graduated with honors with a Bachelor’s degree in PPE (Philosophy, Political Science & Economics) from the Hebrew University.