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New college graduates are confronting one of the toughest entry-level hiring environments in years, according to a report from The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n Entry-level hiring dropped 6% between December 2025 and February 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to LinkedIn data<\/a> reported this month. Entry-level job listings on Indeed also declined 7% last year compared to 2024, the company reported in an analysis<\/a> published last week.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a job seeker, you\u2019re having to work a lot harder to land that same job now because the competition has just really stiffened in the last couple years,\u201d Cory Stahle, an economist at Indeed, told the Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n These dynamics have turned the job hunt into a grueling struggle for many new graduates. In interviews and survey responses to the Times, several soon-to-be and recent college degree holders reported submitting more than 100 job applications without landing a single initial interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n The difficult search has pushed many graduates to rethink their post-college trajectories. Some have taken positions serving tables at pizzerias, making drinks at coffee shops or working other roles that don\u2019t demand a degree. Others are enrolling in graduate school to sidestep the tough job market entirely. Landing a position in your chosen field used to be the standard expectation after graduation \u2014 now, securing any paycheck has become the priority, reports the Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m, like, is it me or is it really the market right now?\u201d Natalia Martinez, 24, a senior at the University of Central Florida, told the outlet. \u201cI just feel like it\u2019s so hard for somebody to take a chance on a college graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n Martinez has applied to 150 jobs since February for receptionist or medical assistant positions, but she has not heard back from any of them. She now looks for roles on LinkedIn and Indeed until late in the night, mentally preparing to move back home with her parents if nothing materializes by graduation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I\u2019m doing everything that I possibly can,\u201d she told the Times. \u201cI just want some kind of path.\u201d<\/p>\n Concerns are also mounting that AI will permanently eliminate traditional entry-level positions, as companies increasingly use the technology to handle routine work previously assigned to junior employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n AI is already taking over tasks at big tech companies. For example, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told The Wall Street Journal<\/a> last year that the tech giant had replaced several hundred human resources employees with AI. IBM\u2019s total workforce grew despite the cuts \u2014 the company channeled the savings into hiring additional software engineers and salespeople.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur total employment has actually gone up, because what [AI] does is it gives you more investment to put into other areas,\u201d Krishna told the Journal.<\/p>\n Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicted last year that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and cause unemployment to rise to 20%. <\/p>\n \u201cOn the jobs side of this [AI], I do have a fair amount of concern,\u201d Amodei said at a Council on Foreign Relations event, per\u00a0Business Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n New college graduates are confronting one of the toughest entry-level hiring environments in years, according to a report from The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n Entry-level hiring dropped 6% between December 2025 and February 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to LinkedIn data<\/a> reported this month. Entry-level job listings on Indeed also declined 7% last year compared to 2024, the company reported in an analysis<\/a> published last week.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a job seeker, you\u2019re having to work a lot harder to land that same job now because the competition has just really stiffened in the last couple years,\u201d Cory Stahle, an economist at Indeed, told the Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nCollege graduates are lowering their expectations<\/h2>\n
AI is shaking up hiring<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
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