Trends & Predictions

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the workplace, but one of its most important implications remains unclear: What does AI mean for early-career jobs?

AI is increasingly becoming an expectation for early career talent, shaping both the job market and entry-level work, according to NACE’s Job Outlook 2026 Spring Update.

Employers expect to increase new college graduate hiring from the Class of 2026 by 5.6%, a projection driven upward by the more than one-third of respondents reporting plans to bring in additional hires, according to results of NACE’s Job Outlook 2026 Spring Update.

Employers expect to bring in 3.9% more interns in 2025-26 compared with 2024-25, according to NACE’s 2026 Internship & Co-op Report.

Students hoping to demonstrate their skills during a skills-based hiring process should share examples and situations when they used their skills to solve problems, according to employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook 2026 survey.

Despite the prevalence of AI in the national dialogue, its use among graduating seniors as a job-search tool is not as widespread as many believe as students have strong concerns about using AI.

Among employers participating in NACE’s Job Outlook 2026 survey, 70% report using skill-based hiring, up from 65% last year. Furthermore, among this year’s employers, 71% use this approach at least half of the time.

Reflecting an uncertain job market for college graduates, employers are projecting just a 1.6% increase in hiring for the Class of 2026 when compared to the Class of 2025.

Students appear to be unfamiliar with the concept of skills-based hiring, despite being asked to demonstrate their skills and working to develop them, according to results of NACE’s 2025 Student Survey.

Although the Class of 2025 faced a tough job market, they responded in ways that suggest they were aware of the challenges they were facing. A number of results from NACE’s 2025 Student Survey support this.

Although there remains a salary advantage for college graduates earning master's degrees, the differential in starting salaries between bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees among top majors is diminishing.

In positive news for the Class of 2026, nearly 87% of employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook 2025 Spring Update survey said their organization will be actively recruiting for both full-time and internship positions in fall of 2025.

There has been much discussion about whether a degree is necessary for every job. The answer is “no.” About half of employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook 2025 Spring Update survey said their organization has positions that are flexible in terms of degree.

Almost two-thirds of employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook 2025 Spring Update survey reported using skills-based hiring to help them identify candidates with potential.

NACE surveyed early career professionals about their experiences and attitudes; in this article, we examine the effects of gender on the experiences of early career talent.

Although overall hiring projections are up just 0.6% from last year, nearly 90% of employers anticipate increasing or maintaining hiring for the college Class of 2025, according to NACE’s Job Outlook 2025 Spring Update.

NACE surveyed early career talent—those who graduated in 2021, 2022, and 2023—to determine if (and how) experiential learning impacted their careers once they had graduated and landed in their first job. The results showed that those who took part in experiential learning while in college had higher rates of career satisfaction and a higher average salary than those who did not engage in experiential learning.

Nearly 85% of Class of 2023 bachelor’s degree graduates and nearly 90% of master’s degree graduates were employed or engaged in further education within six months of graduation.

Graduating students weighing job offers heavily consider the cost of living in each job’s location when making their decision, according to NACE’s 2024 Student Survey report.

Career fairs are relatively effective means for students to convert connections into jobs, according to NACE’s 2024 Student Survey report.

The percent of graduating seniors who participated in an internship is the highest that NACE has recorded in the past six years, according to results of NACE’s 2024 Student Survey.

Nearly 90% of the college Class of 2024 indicated that their institution prepared them for the next step in their career, according to results of NACE’s 2024 Student Survey.

While nearly 20% of employers that responded to NACE’s Job Outlook 2024 Spring Update survey have had discussions about removing the college degree as a key requirement for entry-level positions, nearly 80% of respondents expect that there will be no change in the next two years.

Hiring for internships is expected to remain stable this year, according to NACE’s 2024 Internship and Co-op Report. Overall, eight out of 10 employers taking part in NACE’s annual benchmark report expect to maintain (47.2%) or increase (32.2%) the number of interns they bring in for 2023-24 compared to the 2022-23 academic year.

Nearly 83% of employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook 2024 Spring Update survey anticipate increasing or maintaining hiring for the Class of 2024. This leaves just 17.4% of respondents planning to decrease hires, but their planned cuts mean overall hiring projections are down 5.8% from last year.

After two relatively down years connected with the COVID-19 pandemic, the outcomes rate for Class of 2022 bachelor’s degree graduates returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The small dip in college hiring revealed by NACE’s Job Outlook 2024 survey is down from the last two years, when the college job market experienced brisk growth that, in 2022, reached record levels.

The research suggests that, long term, we will likely work in and out of the office. Research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that new college graduates want to be in person at least part of the time, but also want the flexibility to work remotely some of the time.