A new round of student anxiety is emerging around AI and automation’s effect on early-career opportunities, with reporting citing rising concern among graduating students. The article frames the issue as a growing psychological and labor-market mismatch: young workers fear replacement at the exact stage where apprenticeship and entry training are critical. The report points to Monster data indicating nearly nine in 10 graduates in the class of 2026 are concerned AI or automation could replace entry-level roles, up sharply from 64% the year before. It pairs that sentiment with entry-level posting declines on Handshake and a reported unemployment rate of 5.6% for college graduates aged 22–27. The story aligns with the wider workforce debate about whether AI will transform work rather than purely displace it, but it stresses the immediate effects on perceptions of career pathways and willingness to take early-job steps. For higher education leaders, the near-term implication is practical: career services, employability offices, and academic departments may need stronger employer-validated pathways, transparent communication about AI skill demands, and revised experiential learning models that address student concern.