While new graduates are trying to get jobs at some of the world’s biggest companies, opportunities may also be available to small and medium-sized businesses that are ramping up hiring. And some of the jobs they’re most hiring for may stand the test of time amid the AI revolution.
According to a recent report from payroll and benefits platform Gusto, approximately 974,000 new graduates between the ages of 20 and 24 will be hired by small and medium-sized businesses (companies with 1 to 49 employees) during the 2026 hiring season (April to September). That’s a slight increase from last year’s onboarding of 962,000 early career workers, but the market has yet to fully return to the 2020-2022 COVID-19 year when employers embarked on a hiring rush. Still, there is some improvement in net new graduate employment creation. It has gradually increased from a low of 60,000 in 2023 to over 100,000 in 2026.
While larger companies are removing entry-level listings from their sites, independent businesses appear eager to hire younger workers. While large companies claim that AI can now do the jobs of junior employees, some small and medium-sized business owners are pushing back on that idea and are actively hiring new hires for their tech savvy and relationship-building skills. Mark Cuban also recognized this trend and advised recent graduates to keep an eye out for opportunities in small businesses.
“Large companies are on the defensive, while small businesses are on the offensive,” said Aaron Terrazas, an economist at Gusto. luck. “As large employers move away from entry-level hires, small businesses see an opportunity…Small business owners are also taking advantage of this, and because they are the first graduates to grow up with AI as a native tool rather than a new skill to learn, they have unique value for companies looking to modernize quickly.”
These employers are steadily increasing their hiring numbers, but the talent they’re trying to attract has completely changed.
Career tracks that once guaranteed a generous six-figure job upon graduation have since dried up. Financial analysts, software engineers, and researchers all suffer the biggest declines in their share of the graduate job market. Meanwhile, both AI-centric gigs and hands-on roles are juxtaposed as the strongest growing titles for up-and-coming professionals.
Founding engineers and AI engineers are both seeing the most growth, and conversely, AI-proof roles like field managers and service technicians are joining them at the top. And it may capture an interesting dichotomy in the Gen Z labor market: those who turn to technology in search of success, and those who make their mark on physical transactions.
AI revolution will create more tech-savvy and blue-collar jobs
Generation Z graduates are encouraged to embrace AI or risk being left behind in their careers, while more young professionals are ditching desk jobs for full-time jobs. And they can tap into a trove of well-paying jobs, from small businesses to large corporations.
According to Intuit Credit Karma’s 2024 Harris Poll, approximately 78% of Americans see an increased interest in trade jobs among young people. From carpenter to service technician, many of these roles offer the ideal of being your own boss while earning a high salary.
Gen Z talent is on the rise. Enrollment at career-focused community colleges increased by 16% in 2024, reaching the highest level since the National Student Clearinghouse began tracking the data in 2018. Also, certain occupations are attracting the attention of young workers. From 2022 to 2023, Gen Z enrollment in the construction industry will increase by 23%, and participation in HVAC and vehicle repair programs will increase by 7%. Despite the threat that AI threatens to upend white-collar jobs, there should be no shortage of opportunities for blue-collar talent. Approximately 3.8 million new manufacturing jobs are expected to be created by 2033, according to research from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute.
Meanwhile, certain technology-related roles are also experiencing a resurgence of their own. According to an analysis by the platform earlier this year, AI engineers will be the fastest-growing job category among young workers on LinkedIn in 2026. And of the 639,000 new U.S. AI jobs added to career sites between 2023 and 2025, approximately 75,000 were for AI engineer roles. Enterprise AI platform PromptQL offered $900 an hour for AI engineers to build and deploy AI agents within the enterprise. The company’s CEO said the exorbitant pay reflected its “instinct” and technical ability to keep up with the AI revolution.
“AI engineers and founding engineers are on the rise because companies urgently need young people familiar with AI to innovate,” Terrazas explains. “The Class of 2026 is the first college cohort to complete higher education in the AI era, and many small business leaders believe these young people will bring critical cutting-edge AI skills to their companies.”
