Jay Anderson: if you remove the first rung, who is going to climb the ladder?

It’s a tough time for people starting out in the creative industry right now. Together with Creative Lives in Progress we asked 27 people to predict what starting a creative career will look like over the next three years.

Words: It's Nice That
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Date: 9 November 2026
Tags: Career Predictions

Starting a creative career has rarely felt harder. Junior roles are disappearing, budgets are tightening and AI is taking over much of the work that new starters once learned on. So we asked studio founders, recruiters, educators, organisations and emerging creatives themselves to predict what they think starting a creative career will look like over the next three years. What skills will matter most? How will the pipeline work? And what can people do to take advantage of new opportunities? Their answers will help shape how Creative Lives in Progress can best support emerging talent through this period and beyond.

Contributor specific paragraph.

Jay Anderson, Course Director BA Graphic Design at Birmingham City University

The junior role will change — but emerging talent will matter more than ever.

Over the next three years, I expect that the usual path from fresh graduate to junior designer, to mid-level designer, and to senior designer will not be as straight as it has been in the past. Quite a few graduates are being made redundant or are finding it hard to get that first role; the prospects for recent graduates are dire.

I think it’s foreseeable that the number of juniors employed by agencies will fall in the short term, especially if automation and artificial intelligence take on roles and tasks that have traditionally been given to emerging talent. But here is the big question: in the future, when there is no longer a stepping-stone for talent to evolve into the next generation of mid-weights and seniors, where will that talent grow, make mistakes, build judgment, and learn how the creative work is actually done?

“Knowing how to use the technology is not enough; the real added value comes from creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, communication, and decision-making.”
Jay Anderson, Course Director BA Graphic Design at Birmingham City University

That is something that we have also been thinking about in design education. At Birmingham City University, when we wrote our new graphic design course, we deliberately included emerging technology and design for change as compulsory parts of the curriculum. Not only do the students need to know the tools that are transforming the profession, but they also need to learn why and for whom they design, because technology, sustainability, ethics, collaboration and social responsibility cannot be excluded from the conversation about employability.

My own prediction is that the next-generation designer will be increasingly hybrid, using AI for research, ideation, experimentation and production in a much shorter time. But knowing how to use the technology is not enough; the real added value comes from creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, communication, and decision-making. On the other hand, it is equally important to know when the technology can be used and when it is better to use a different method.

The challenge for education and industry is shared. We cannot teach students for positions that no longer exist, but neither can the industry stop investing in new talent. If you remove the first rung on the ladder, then who is going to climb it?

This series has been put together in collaboration with It's Nice That's sister company Creative Lives in Progress; a creative careers resource, on a mission to transform the way emerging talent access, understand and connect with the industry. Find out more at creativelivesinprogress.com