The bank recently hired 2,000 top graduates out of 200,000 applications, the executive said in an interview. CBS NewsMargaret Brennan Let's face the nation. Moynihan acknowledged that many young people are feeling fearful and anxious about the future, as companies cite AI as the reason for large-scale layoffs.
“My advice to those kids is, when you ask them if they're worried, they say they're worried. These are the kids we hire. We get 200,000 applications and we hire 2,000.” Moynihan added, “If you ask them if they're scared, they say they're scared. I understand that. But I say, take advantage of it…You'll have your world ahead of you.”
Moynihan said it's too early to say what impact AI will have on the job market, but he wants to capitalize on the efficiencies brought by the technology to invest in further growth.
“We want to drive more growth, so that's where AI will be spent. I think the efficiencies from AI will be spent to continue to grow the company,” he said.
Moynihan also said Americans focus too much on the Fed and its impact on the economy. He argued that the private sector is the more important driver of economic growth.
“The idea that we're left hanging with the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points seems crazy to me,” he said.
Generation Z’s concerns about employment
Jerome Powell and several economists have determined that Gen Z faces a real “employment nightmare,” especially for recent graduates looking to land their first white-collar jobs. This has to do with a low-employment, low-layoff labor market, rapid automation of entry-level roles, and an aging workforce as the Gen Z presence shrinks.
In September 2025, Powell highlighted an “interesting labor market” in a post-meeting press conference where “kids coming out of college and minority youth are having a hard time finding jobs.” He stressed that while layoffs remain under control, job search rates are “very, very low”, creating a stagnant, low-employment, low-layoff environment that is particularly difficult for new entrants. Asked if AI was to blame, he said it was “probably a factor” but not the main one, suggesting that slow overall job creation and some AI substitutions are squeezing young workers at the very moment they are about to climb the corporate ladder.
Employers are leveraging AI to automate predictable, process-heavy tasks that once justified many junior roles, especially in corporate and technology environments. Platforms that track early career adoption like Handshake point to a double squeeze. Entry-level job openings in corporate roles are down about 15% year-on-year, while mentions of “AI” in job descriptions are up about 400% over two years. Economists like David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College say: luck Even when young people do find work, they report a growing sense of “hopelessness” and a pervasive feeling that “this job sucks”, exacerbating the impact of high graduate unemployment rates compared to the national average.
Some unemployed Gen Z graduates are pursuing additional business degrees or professional programs to differentiate themselves, effectively delaying full-time employment and reflecting a population that feels forced to overqualify to compete for the few true entry-level slots.
