Reddit CEO: "There are so many reasons to hire new grads"

Today’s global workforce is increasingly using AI, with 65% of entry-level workers now admitting to using the technology on a daily basis.

With almost two‑thirds of entry‑level roles being touched by AI tools, it’s no surprise that more employees are becoming increasingly worried that these positions may be the first to disappear. 

As AI can be used to automate routine, repetitive tasks that traditionally helped early‑career employees learn the ropes, workers fear that the foundation of the career ladder is being eroded.

Consequently, employees striving to join the workforce are now not just competing against each other, but against technology, too. 

However, Steve Huffman, CEO of social media platform Reddit, is spinning a more positive narrative, insisting that his company is actually experiencing the opposite.

"The kids coming out of college right now learned how to program with AI,” Steve recently said on the Sourcery with Molly O'Shea podcast. “They're really good at it, so I think we will go heavy on new grads because they're so much more AI native."

As a result, new hires should be focused on building the right skills to help them better utilise AI, rather than seeing it as a blocker. 

He added: “I think there are so many reasons to hire new grads. Also, the best new grads, if you don't hire them as new grads, you will never see them. 

“They will never be on the job market again. They're too valuable to ever let them be on the job market.”

Reddit will continue to prioritise humans

Having recently celebrated a “breakout year” in 2025 with US$2.2bn in revenue and 121 million daily users in Q4 alone, Steve credited the business’s success to one key aspect: Reddit’s content is based around humans.

For Steve, the platform has “surpassed bold targets, built real momentum across our business and proved our unique community model at scale”.

Steve credits this to today’s current state that is “flooded with AI slop", meaning more people are “seeking real community, lived experience and trusted opinions".

However, although businesses such as Reddit are still seeing the clear value in human participation, competition amongst peers is fiercer than ever. 

According to The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in February 2026, up from 4.1% in February 2025 – equating to roughly 500,000 more people unemployed over the past 12 months.

More individuals now hold bachelor’s degrees, as today, around ~40% of adults have earned one, up from roughly ~30% a decade ago. Likewise, over half of the workforce now holds a post-secondary credential, which is intensifying competition for graduate roles even more.

This being said, Steve is focused on ensuring Reddit actively recruits entry-level talent to ensure the business is taking advantage of their unique skillset – particularly in regards to engineering.

“We are building a company, so in order for the engineering headcount to go down, we'd have to know everything we wanted to build," Steve explained. 

"Let's say AI makes our engineers 50%, 100% or even 10x more productive. We'll just build more stuff. Not do the same amount with less."

Driving Reddit to success

Steve’s human-centric approach helped Reddit achieve a successful Q4 and full-year results for 2025.

Alongside a full-year revenue of US$2.2bn, Reddit's fiscal strength was underscored by a standout Q4, where net income of US$252m was reached. This accounted for 35% of the quarter’s revenue, capping off a profitable year with a total net income of US$520m and representing 24% of annual revenue.

Steve’s approach also helped to drive more active users, as Reddit saw an increase of 19% year-over-year to 121.4 million.

With this in mind, Reddit’s success proves that even in an AI-driven world, there is no substitute for human connection. So how can HR leaders work to find the right balance between human and AI input?