A Fortune survey and employer commentary highlighted a widening gap: many recent college graduates lack workplace-ready skills such as teamwork and communication, even as educators report confidence in their graduates. Employers warn that remote learning and curricular lag on topics like AI and applied problem-solving have reduced opportunities for formative, on-the-job learning. The story calls for deeper university-employer partnerships—internships, co-ops, applied projects and mentoring—to bridge readiness gaps. It notes that automation of entry-level tasks by AI increases urgency because fewer roles remain that traditionally trained junior staff to higher responsibility. Universities face tradeoffs between preserving liberal education aims and scaling experiential programming. Industry collaboration strategies, from curricular co-design to sponsored labs, will be a focus for career services, deans, and provosts seeking measurable improvements in employment outcomes.