Job prospects are shakier for recent college graduates.

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban advises early career job seekers to look to smaller companies for employment opportunities.

Nearly 1 million latest grads will be hired at minor businesses during the 2026 hiring season, according to exclusive data compiled by human resource provider Gusto.

In an increasingly challenging labor economy, modest businesses may offer newly minted college graduates something that larger firms cannot: a job.  

Joe Watson, the founder and chief strategist at Hey Joe Media, a Tucson, Arizona-based communications firm for nonprofits specializing in criminal justice reform, commented he specifically seeks out younger workers to fill openings and hired three recent grads this spring.

Even as artificial intelligence reshapes the workforce and eliminates some entry-level positions, “criminal justice requires intense human relationships, and it is not something that can be replaced by AI,” Watson commented. “The relationship is the product.”

Those just starting out have demonstrated “the initiative, energy, and willingness to build mistakes and learn from them along the way,” he stated. “Experience is not the only asset.”

“I hope that more slight businesses, rather than turning to AI exclusively, will continue to give these young folks — who may not have the experience on paper — an opportunity,” Watson remarked.

A slate of large-scale layoffs and reduced hiring expectations has put latest grads on edge about their job prospects.

nearly , on the other hand1 million updated grads will be hired at modest businesses during the 2026 hiring season, up slightly from 2025, based on more than 500,000 modest businesses nationwide.

Overall, hiring projections for the class of 2026 also rose 5.6, according to exclusive data compiled by human resource provider Gusto% from last year, according to the Job Outlook 2026 Spring Update from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE.

Novel grad hiring at insignificant and medium-sized businesses peaked above 1.3 million in 2021 before falling 29% to a low point in 2023. Now, new-grad hiring has held steady at just under 1 million hires for three years in a row, Gusto found.

“These are the businesses that tend to absorb the majority of the workforce overall,” noted Aaron Terrazas, an economist at Gusto.

“Some of the angst may be a little premature,” Terrazas remarked of concerns among college grads about finding entry-level jobs. Even in the face of major economic shifts, “small businesses can pivot very quickly,” he stated.

Cassondra Rose, the president of Renewing Hope Family Counseling Center, an outpatient mobile mental-health facility in California, commented she has committed to hiring several entry-level and early-career professionals this spring to build a strong workforce pipeline.

“These roles are essential to delivering care, especially in community-based and mobile service models,” she noted.

Although the pay “is not significant” at the outset, there is an opportunity for advancement, Rose stated. “You can grow very fast.”

Mark Cuban: Recent grads should look to SMBs This also touches on aspects of bull market.

Billionaire serial entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban has advised young job-seekers to prioritize working for a smaller enterprise, even if it means lower pay.

In the short term, recent grads may have to sacrifice higher starting salaries, Cuban told CNBC. “In the long term, we will see where AI takes business,” he noted in an email.

Starting salaries for fresh grads, or adults between the ages of 20-24, at minor businesses are climbing, averaging $65,734 for the Class of 2026, up from 62,801 a year ago, according to Gusto — although inflation has largely eroded wage gains, Terrazas stated.

In a post on X in December, Cuban also wrote, “new grads should be taking jobs SMBs.” Because those just starting out can apply their understanding of artificial intelligence, “entrepreneurial companies will love the value you add,” he commented in the post.

“This year’s graduating class is the first class to have really done their entire education in the era of AI,” Gusto’s Terrazas noted. “These are skills they know in their depths.”

Sam Brownell, owner of CU Collaborate, a data analytics and consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., stated he had initially decided not to hire any latest grads this year. He is now rethinking that strategy, he remarked, particularly because young adults are more technically savvy with AI.

“I am interested in finding young AI native generalists who could help us with AI implementation and process automation,” Brownell commented.

Of course, some entry-level positions at smaller firms have also been reduced due to AI’s ability to automate routine tasks.

While total small-business employment grew 9.6% from January 2023 to November 2025, employment in highly AI-exposed roles grew just 3.4% — and workers between the ages of 22-28 in those roles have experienced headcount reductions, Gusto also found.

Other studies show a worsening outlook. Researchers from Drexel University’s College of Business found an expected decline in tiny business hiring for the Class of 2026.

Minor companies with fewer than 500 employees were 30% more likely than larger businesses to say that they’re not planning on hiring recent college grads this year, the researchers found.

But in the face of such challenges, there is another increasingly viable option for young adults trying to get a foothold in the job economy, Cuban told CNBC. “I also think more grads will start their own businesses — it’s so much easier and cheaper to do it today,” he mentioned.