2025 was not the year labor economists expected. Last year was the worst for non-recession job growth since 2003. Tariffs, tighter immigration and economic uncertainty all played a role — and artificial intelligence became a convenient scapegoat. But Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang doesn’t see AI as the villain behind today’s job market problems.
Instead, he sees the current slowdown as a period of adjustment — growing pains before a more productive and, ultimately, more prosperous economy takes shape.
“Our job isn’t dealing with a spreadsheet or typing on a keyboard — our job, in general, is more meaningful than that,” Huang told Time. “I am reasonably confident that AI will drive productivity, revenue growth and therefore more hiring.”
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But his optimism comes with a caveat: the transition will not be smooth. The rise of AI will force a broad reorganization of roles and responsibilities across the job market, requiring new skills and adaptability from workers.
“That’s for sure: everyone’s job is going to change because of AI. Some jobs will disappear — in every industrial revolution some jobs just disappear — but a lot of jobs are created,” said the 62-year-old executive.
And there is an even bigger problem. To be part of this transformation, AI needs to be adopted; otherwise, the consequences could be severe.
“Everyone is going to have to use AI, because if you don’t use it, you’re going to lose your job to someone who does.”
Nvidia declined Fortune’s request for comment.
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Huang is not alone in seeing long-term opportunities amid short-term turbulence. AMD CEO Lisa Su also struck an optimistic tone — especially for students entering the industry just as AI is shaping the way work gets done.
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“The Class of 2026 will graduate at an exciting time as AI transforms our world and expands what is possible,” she said in a statement announcing her selection as MIT’s 2026 commencement speaker. “And I look forward to celebrating them as they prepare to share their skills and ideas with the world.”
However, after a tepid 2025, there is little evidence that 2026 will offer immediate relief to job seekers — especially if tariff policy and other economic headwinds remain unchanged. For future recent graduates, the scenario is particularly bleak.
More than half of employers rate the job market for the class of 2026 as “poor” or “fair,” according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers — the most pessimistic outlook since the early days of the pandemic.
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This is unfolding in real time as young people compete for a dwindling number of entry-level jobs. At Bank of America, for example, just 2,000 recent graduates were hired out of 200,000 applicants—an acceptance rate of about 1%, much more selective than Ivy League schools.
The bank’s CEO, Brian Moynihan, acknowledged that anxiety is widespread among Gen Z candidates, but urged them not to back down in the face of it.
“If you ask them if they’re scared, they say they are. And I understand that. But I say, channel it… The world will be yours from now on,” Moynihan told CBS News earlier this year.
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Huang echoed that message, arguing that resilience — not a sense of entitlement — will be the defining characteristic of workers who succeed in an AI-powered economy.
“People with very high expectations have very low resilience — and unfortunately, resilience matters for success,” Huang said during an interview with the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2024. “One of my big strengths is that I have very low expectations.”
Overcoming adversity, Huang said, is a rite of passage for successful people.
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“I don’t know how to do this [mas]for all of you Stanford students, I wish you hearty doses of pain and suffering,” Huang added. “Greatness comes from character, and character isn’t made up of smart people — it’s made up of people who have suffered.”
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