Despite the tough job market, LinkedIn cofounder says Gen Z graduates have one big selling point as potential new hires: Being AI natives

Yahoo

16 hours ago

LinkedIn cofounder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman warned AI will change jobs and the workplace, but that doesn't mean young job seekers should be alarmed. On the contrary, Hoffman said college grads need to advertise the advantage they have as AI natives to stand out among older workers.
The tough job market for recent college grads is weighing on Gen Z, but the AI skills they bring to the workplace could be their biggest selling point as potential new hires, said LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman.
Unemployment for young people between the ages of 22 and 27 rose to a four-year high of 5.8% in March, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Furthermore, the underemployment rate rose to 41.2% for this group, and the New York Fed said, 'The labor market for recent college graduates deteriorated noticeably in the first quarter of 2025.'
Regardless, younger people need to play up their biggest advantage when they look for jobs: their ability to maneuver AI technology that is already making drastic changes in the workplace, said the billionaire entrepreneur and VC in a YouTube video responding to college students' questions.
'You are generation AI. You are AI native,' Hoffman said. 'Bringing the fact that you have AI in your tool set is one of the things that makes you enormously attractive.'
While some CEOs in the AI industry like Anthropic's Dario Amodei have warned the technology will lead to double-digit unemployment and a drastic decrease in entry-level jobs, others, like Nvidia's Jensen Huang have argued it will create many jobs.
Hoffman, for his part, stuck to the middle of both opinions, adding that with technology advancing so rapidly, it's a 'legitimate worry' for young people that AI could make their degrees less valuable. Still, he said, the most important takeaway from college isn't limited to any single class or skill set, but rather learning to make connections.
'One thing is to not focus on the degree, but to focus on how you learn and to be continually learning,' he said.
Hoffman added the job market is constantly changing, with new jobs being created and eliminated at a rapid pace.
'AI is just amplifying this fact—which is the fact that it's changing faster, it's changing in more directions, and it highlights the fact that you need to be dynamic and evolving,' he said.
Still, younger workers surrounded by older, non-AI-native employees, could stand out, especially if they have taken the time to embrace AI tools and develop their prompting skills.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com