Why recruiters can't find workers and new grads can't find jobs (it's not AI)
Yet, tech recruiter Matt Walsh and other experts say the growth of AI and the struggle to find entry-level work mask a bigger problem: The United States is facing what’s projected to become the largest labor shortage in its history. In sectors such as semiconductor production, the problem isn’t AI or too few jobs, said Walsh, CEO of the Phoenix-based search firm Blue Signal. “There just aren’t enough people.”Economists warn that the worsening labor problem, due in part to a skills shortage and population shifts, will be vast and reach beyond tech.It “could hobble the American economy for years to come,” predicts the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
- ▪Yet, tech recruiter Matt Walsh and other experts say the growth of AI and the struggle to find entry-level work mask a bigger problem: The United States is facing what’s projected to become the largest labor shortage in its history.
- ▪In sectors such as semiconductor production, the problem isn’t AI or too few jobs, said Walsh, CEO of the Phoenix-based search firm Blue Signal.
- ▪“There just aren’t enough people.”Economists warn that the worsening labor problem, due in part to a skills shortage and population shifts, will be vast and reach beyond tech.It “could hobble the American economy for years to come,” predict
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BusinessNationNation & World Why recruiters can’t find workers and new grads can’t find jobs (it’s not AI) July 12, 2026 at 7:01 pm Updated July 12, 2026 at 7:01 pm Listen to article Make us a preferred source By Jon Marcus The Washington Post Recent college graduates complain they can’t find entry-level jobs because artificial intelligence is taking over. Yet, tech recruiter Matt Walsh and other experts say the growth of AI and the struggle to find entry-level work mask a bigger problem: The United States is facing what’s projected to become the largest labor shortage in its history. In sectors such as semiconductor production, the problem isn’t AI or too few jobs, said Walsh, CEO of the Phoenix-based search firm Blue Signal. “It’s ridiculous,” he said.
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