The class of 2026 is graduating into one of the toughest labor markets in decades.
Entry-level job postings made up just 38.6% of all postings in March, down from 44% in 2023, according to ZipRecruiter. Goldman Sachs economists estimate AI is now cutting roughly 16,000 U.S. jobs a month, and Gen Z is getting hit the hardest because they’re concentrated in the entry-level white-collar roles the tech automates first. Meanwhile, the share of unemployed Americans who are new workforce entrants hit a 37-year high last year.
It’s no wonder more than 60% of the class of 2026 are pessimistic about their career prospects, according to a recent Handshake report. Which means the advice powerful women—from Queen Latifah to Nancy Pelosi—have been giving graduates during commencement speeches this year has looked a little different, too.
They’ve let Gen Z know the straight-line career path is dead, the power of “no” is underrated, and you’d better believe in yourself harder than the market believes in you.
Or, as Queen Latifah put it to graduates at North Carolina A&T State University, you have to be a little out of your mind.
