As many companies rush to integrate artificial intelligence into critical operations, the "good judgment" of senior finance executives is especially important, said Justin Judd, CFO of BambooHR, in an interview.

However, as companies seek more experienced leaders, they are also reducing hiring for junior or entry-level positions, which could trigger a succession crisis. According to an analysis released on May 5 by the Draper, Utah-based human resources platform, the pipeline for future senior professionals has narrowed, with the current ratio of "senior to entry-level" hires at about three to one.

The high-level thinking and expertise that senior employees bring "is truly critical, but if we don't develop junior employees, we will soon face a talent crisis to some degree," Judd said. Senior employees may "move into new roles or leave for other positions, and suddenly, we have no one to replace them."

Misaligned expectations

According to Judd's LinkedIn profile, he has served as CFO of BambooHR since October 2021. Before joining the human resources platform, he spent 11 years at Adobe, including three years as CFO of its digital experience business.

According to BambooHR's analysis—based on six years of workforce data and a survey of about 1,200 full-time employees—job postings for junior positions have declined.

BambooHR found that from 2021 to 2025, job postings for analyst positions fell 21%, while postings for assistant positions dropped 7%. Meanwhile, postings for experienced finance professionals surged: for example, postings for controller positions rose 62% over the four-year period.

These trends are not surprising to Judd: finance leaders have been dealing with a shrinking pipeline of new accounting or finance talent for years. Additionally, the uncertain economic environment and the impact of artificial intelligence have made seasoned finance experience more valuable.

But as CFOs look ahead, successors for senior roles will be in short supply, and they face challenges in retaining junior employees, who often leave shortly after joining. According to the company, one-third of all new finance hires resign within their first year, while BambooHR data shows that the same-month attrition rate has doubled to 16% since 2020.

Judd said CFOs "may be entering a period where expectations between junior employees, entry-level employees, and the organization are more misaligned than ever before."

For example, junior employees may expect to be assigned simple tasks and have time to "gradually grow" into more complex responsibilities, he said.

Meanwhile, company expectations may have shifted since hiring began, as changes in business needs or the integration of new tools reshape the tasks assigned to new employees.

"I think the challenge and opportunity for us as an industry is that we need to better and more deliberately define what roles we expect entry-level talent to take on," he said. "We need to better articulate, 'This is what we actually think the career ladder looks like.'"

Experience and innovation

In an AI-first world, the skills CFOs seek in junior finance talent may also be changing.

Judd "would almost rather hire someone who is really strong in analytical skills, technical skills, and tool usage than ensure they have absolutely deep expertise in how to prepare a capital budget or create a financial statement," he said. "Because in some ways, those skills are easier for our senior professionals to teach."

CFOs must take primary responsibility for setting these expectations and entry-level employee programs. The program needs not only to make room for tech-savvy newcomers but also to provide much-needed support for overworked mid-level or senior finance employees.

BambooHR data shows that experienced finance professionals (those with more than three years of experience) make up 54% of the finance workforce and are overburdened: 61% of experienced finance workers are actively looking for a job, while 83% say they have at least a "slight inclination" to consider a career change.

According to BambooHR, hiring in finance functions has stalled, which is a factor in senior employee retention and the financial stability of their roles. However, lack of growth opportunities (53%) and burnout (49%) are the main reasons many leave these roles, BambooHR found.

"We're asking them to do more, not only within the traditional scope of their jobs, but also to learn new systems, re-adapt, relearn new skills, and at the same time discern the gap between hype and reality," Judd said.