The institutional trick is that companies can preserve the language of development while removing the tasks that once made development real. Entry-level workers used to trade low pay for training, visibility, and a path into higher-value work. AI changes that trade: routine tasks are treated as automatable, junior openings shrink, and the people still hired inherit a thinner job with less leverage. That is why a single r/antiwork post matters; the complaint is not only low pay but blocked motion . The employer keeps the rung and removes the climb.