Job postings have declined year over year by more than 6% and recent college grads are finding it harder and harder to find an entry-level position with the rise of artificial intelligence.
Brynn Pule graduated with a degree in marketing from the University of Arizona in May, but says she started applying for entry-level jobs months prior. She adds that in the past couple of months, she’s applied to upwards of 200 jobs.
“Now, since I have graduated, it’s become a full-time job to apply to jobs,” Pule said.
She explains that she’s heard back from some places occasionally, but ends up getting ghosted more times.
Pule’s experience is not unique, according to the Associate Director for Career Education and Development at UCLA, Kimberly Terrell.
“Essentially, it has gone from three to months months to find a job to up to six months,” Terrell said.
Only 30% of those who graduated in 2025 and 41% of 2024 graduates have found entry-level jobs in their field, according to the Cengage Group 2025 Graduate Employability Report. That report found that a tight labor market, the current state of the economy and changes due to AI are to blame for the decline in entry-level hiring.
“I feel like maybe we weren’t as prepared for that in college,” Pule said. “I feel like a lot of my professors were aware of AI and how it was integrating into the workplace, and they said as long as you can use it, you’ll stand out, but never did they mention it would be taking over what we were supposed to be doing right after college.”
Terrell says AI is going to be there and there’s no way around it.
“It is something that is going to take a larger and larger portion of those entry-level jobs,” Terrell said. “What can’t be replicated are those interpersonal skills.”
Terrell tells students that a degree is not enough to find a good job and that they need to hone their “soft skills.”
“Those are skills like communication, self-efficacy, empathy, teamwork, professionalism, and if they’re not capable of talking about and demonstrating those skills, they’re really having a hard time,” Terrell said.
Pule has been called in for interviews, but no offers yet. For now, she has a part-time nannying job to pay the bills.
“This is one of the toughest times I have gone through, truly,” Pule said. “But I just have to keep pushing through and know that my ‘yes’ is coming soon.”