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Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, waves to a crowd of graduates during an outdoor commencement ceremony at Carnegie Mellon University in May 2026. Photo courtes of NVIDA |
Hiring of recent college graduates has fallen 20% from pre-pandemic levels and 5% from a year earlier, according to Forbes, citing new data from professional networking platform LinkedIn.
Across the most common college majors on LinkedIn, hiring for entry-level jobs related to graduates' fields of study declined between December 2019 and April 2026.
Engineering was hit hardest, with hiring down 25%, followed by computer and information sciences and interdisciplinary studies, both down 24%.
Business and marketing, which accounted for the largest share of recent graduates on LinkedIn at 24.3%, also saw entry-level hiring fall 23%. Communication and journalism, physical sciences, and visual and performing arts recorded the same decline.
Entry-level hiring declines by college major in the U.S.:
|
No. |
Major |
Entry-level hiring change |
Share of recent graduates on LinkedIn |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Engineering |
-25% |
7.7% |
|
2 |
Computer and information sciences |
-24% |
3.7% |
|
3 |
Interdisciplinary studies |
-24% |
6.4% |
|
4 |
Business and marketing |
-23% |
24.3% |
|
5 |
Communication and journalism |
-23% |
4% |
|
6 |
Physical sciences |
-23% |
1.5% |
|
7 |
Visual and performing arts |
-23% |
5.2% |
|
8 |
Social sciences |
-22% |
6.4% |
|
9 |
Homeland security and law enforcement |
-22% |
2.2% |
|
10 |
English language and literature |
-21% |
1.4% |
The weak hiring market has coincided with rising unemployment among young graduates.
Americans ages 22 to 27 with bachelor's degrees had an unemployment rate of 5.7% in early 2026, above the national average of 4.3%, according to the May report "The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates" by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The report also found hiring had slowed to its lowest level outside the pandemic since 2014, while entry-level job postings had fallen about 35% over the previous 18 months.
LinkedIn said the labor market has become increasingly uneven as hiring slows and artificial intelligence reshapes some industries faster than others. It found that graduates with degrees that can be applied across a broad range of industries are better positioned to weather the slowdown.
Social sciences and humanities graduates have proved more resilient because their skills are more transferable across sectors. By contrast, engineering and computer science grads, despite being projected to earn the highest starting salaries of more than $81,000 in 2026, often have more specialized skills, limiting their ability to move into other industries as hiring weakens.
