"Small businesses are planning to hire fewer recent college graduates than they did in 2025, making it likely harder for this cohort to find entry-level jobs. In our recent national survey, we found that small businesses are 30% more likely than larger employers to say they are not hiring recent college graduates in 2026. About 1 in 5 small-business employers said they do not plan to hire college graduates or expect to hire fewer than they did last year."
"This slowdown is happening nationwide and is affecting early-career hiring for people graduating from both college and graduate programs-and is more pronounced for people with graduate degrees. Nearly 40% of small businesses also said they do not plan to hire, or are cutting back on hiring, recent grads who don't have a master's of business administration. Almost 60% said the same for people with other professional degrees."
Small businesses plan to hire substantially fewer recent college graduates in 2026, increasing difficulty for this cohort to secure entry-level positions. Small businesses are 30% more likely than larger employers to say they are not hiring recent college graduates in 2026. About one in five small-business employers said they do not plan to hire college graduates or expect to hire fewer than they did last year. This represents the largest anticipated decrease in small-business hiring of new graduates in more than a decade. Small businesses are defined as firms with fewer than 500 employees. The slowdown is nationwide and hits both college and graduate program graduates, with stronger cutbacks for graduate-degree holders.
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