For new college graduates officially hitting the job market this spring, the headlines sound pretty bleak, as AI-driven job restructuring is increasingly claiming jobs across industries. Factor in the reality that job losses are disproportionately hitting entry level positions, and it’s no wonder that anxiety about the post-grad job search is at an all-time high.
So, where will new grads go? New LinkedIn data culled from millions of member profiles has some clues about the jobs and industries holding the most opportunity for entry-level professionals—and they’re not all tech-focused.
LinkedIn’s Grad Guide 2026 offers a forecast for young job seekers, detailing the current market they’re facing. But it also has some important insights for HR.
In particular, the research highlights the fastest-growing roles for new grads. The top titles are:
- AI engineer
- Marketing coordinator
- Recruitment assistant
- Legal specialist
- HR operations specialist
“LinkedIn data shows that many of the fastest-growing job titles for career starters are tied directly to how companies operate today—from revenue-generating positions like business development representative to technical roles supporting the rise of AI,” researchers write.
Interestingly, two of the top five roles are in the HR space, highlighting that the people function will continue to be a critical driver of business, even in the age of AI and automation. It’s a reality that Box CEO Aaron Levie recently predicted: “You can automate software creation; you can’t automate people creation,” he said.
Also of note, only two of the top 10 roles—AI engineer and machine learning engineer, which ranked eighth—are AI-specific jobs.
On a broader scale, the tech, information and media industry is considered the best bet for new grads to break into. Other industries most friendly to early-career talent include:
- real estate
- financial services
- utilities
- construction
HR’s new mandate
What can HR glean from the data? Apart from pointing new jobs to potential paths for growth, LinkedIn’s guide also describes a generation willing to think outside the box when it comes to building their careers—a message HR can embed into its current talent strategies.
For instance, LinkedIn research finds that more than half of Gen Z job seekers globally are considering non-traditional work arrangements, like freelance and contract work. This demographic is the most likely to rethink the full-time, 9-to-5 standard, researchers say. They are also more likely than others to be interested in starting their own business.
“Together, these trends point to a broader rethinking of what an early career can look like,” the report says. That vision is “one that’s less defined by a single full-time job and more shaped by flexibility, ownership and multiple paths to building experience.”
That backdrop suggests HR may need to lean into creativity to attract new grads, while offering the empowerment and flexibility they’re looking for.
Gen Z is “recalibrating the formula for career success,” SurveyMonkey’s Wendy Smith recently wrote for HR Executive. They are “prioritizing wellbeing, flexibility and alignment with personal values over traditional markers like company loyalty or the single-track corporate ladder.”
This shift is creating a new organizational imperative that falls squarely on the desk of HR leaders. They “cannot afford to ignore this emerging mindset if they want to attract, retain and effectively engage the future workforce,” Smith writes.
Yet, the entry level is increasingly on the chopping block, as AI and automation take over some of the routine tasks generally assigned to junior talent. Recent research from Korn Ferry found that nearly 40% of organizations plan to replace entry-level roles with AI.
IBM CHRO Nickle LaMoreaux says her firm sees that approach as a mistake that could have significant effects on long-term talent strategy. Apart from creating a future dearth of middle managers, she recently said at a Wall Street Journal Chief People Officer Council Summit that axing the entry level in favor of AI restricts the real growth potential of the the tech.
Instead, IBM has committed to tripling entry-level hiring over the next three years. As AI takes away the rote aspects of some early-career jobs, young talent is instead being given new opportunities to stretch across functions, build skills and chase opportunities that weren’t available due to time and labor constraints duringthe pre-AI landscape. It’s a signal, she says, that the company views AI as a driver of growth, not just productivity.
Gen Z is uniquely situated to meet that moment like no generation before, Teuila Hanson, LinkedIn chief people officer, told HR Executive this past fall. Digital natives are used to figuring out how to innovate with technology and make decisions quickly, often without all the information—after all, she says, this class of new grads started coming of age in the middle of a pandemic.
Their unique experiences likely provided them high-valued adaptability.
“Why would companies not want to bring that talent in?” Hanson asks.
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