Employers plan to increase hiring of new college graduates by about 5.6%, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) spring 2026 job outlook update. More than a third of survey respondents said they plan to add hires, despite ongoing concerns about how AI may affect entry-level roles. The outlook suggests that firms continue to value early-career talent and the human skills employers associate with onboarding, development, and workplace learning—even as organizations experiment with automation. For universities, the data supports a continued emphasis on career services alignment, employer-ready skills, and internship-to-job conversion as graduates navigate shifting hiring demand in an AI-influenced economy.