Entry-level hiring has declined as artificial intelligence reshapes many of the capabilities that once defined first professional jobs, according to a May 4 LinkedIn News post.
The average seasonally adjusted hiring rate of U.S. entry-level employees declined 6% between December 2025 and February 2026 compared to the same time frame from 2024 to 2025, according to LinkedIn data.
Among the LinkedIn Top Companies 2026 list — the 50 best U.S. employers to grow careers — the share of entry-level hires declined from 40.3% in 2016 to 37.2% in 2025, LinkedIn News found.
Meanwhile, the median experience level of employees at LinkedIn’s top companies grew from about six years in 2016 to nearly 8.5 years in 2025.
However, the top companies are committed to developing entry-level talent once hired, LinkedIn News wrote. The list featured six healthcare organizations, including Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente. It also included Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Health and Eden Prairie, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group.
In addition to the effects of AI, U.S. companies facing economic uncertainty and rising costs may be slowing hiring, while older workers retiring later means fewer roles are opening for recent graduates, LinkedIn News wrote in an April 15 post.
Hospitals and health systems are also feeling the effects of rising costs, including a 7.6% increase in supply and drug costs in February, according to a report from Strata Decision Technologies.
However, concerns of AI reshaping early career roles could push a new wave of talent toward health systems, which have remained largely insulated from AI-driven job cuts and offer structured training pathways with sustained labor demand.
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