Nothing After Graduation: The New Reality for Young Workers
By Rafaela Shpigelman
Imagine spending the majority of your life sitting and learning in a classroom and studying intensely all with the hope that you will find a good job. Then, you are met with one of the most brutal job markets for young graduates in history. This is not a fictional story, rather, this is the reality that most graduates face. According to The New York Times, young graduates face the grimmest job market in years. According to NPR, there has been a steady increase in the unemployment rate for college graduates.
One very big reason for the struggle of young graduates to secure jobs is the threat and integration of AI. According to St.John's University, a Stanford University Analysis stated that workers aged 22-25 in AI-exposed fields saw a 13% decline in employment. Most entry level jobs have been or will be replaced by AI in the foreseeable future, which makes finding and securing a job extremely difficult for young graduates or workers. A statistic from St.Johns University states that executives say that entry level jobs will be hit the hardest, with 77% reporting moderate to severe disruption. This means that the jobs that are primarily held by young graduates are or will be disrupted by AI. Many jobs that were once given to students as junior or entry level positions are now being done by AI.
For decades, a college degree meant your future was set. With a degree, you used to be able to land a job almost instantly. However, that is no longer the case. According to The Broken Glass Institute, for the first time in modern history, a bachelor's degree is no longer a reliable path for professional employment. Additionally, according to The New York Times, over 40% of young graduates who are employed hold jobs that do not require college degrees, the highest percentage since 2020. This shows that not only have degrees been devalued from what they used to be, but a large percentage of jobs do not even require them.
Moreover, companies are looking more towards people with more experience than fresh graduates. According to Georgetown University, some tech companies are looking to hire people with more experience than they would need for the job, a practice called ‘experience creeping’. This desire or even requirement by companies for experience closes the door to many entry level opportunities for young graduates. According to Fortune, the share of postings open to those with two to four years of experience dropped from 46% in mid-2022 to 40% in mid-2025, while the share requiring at least five years of experience has increased from 37% to 42%. This new standard has made it almost impossible for young graduates to secure jobs in fields such as tech, while also putting them in competition with people who do not have college degrees for the same exact positions.
College graduates are now competing with people without college education for the same jobs. According to Higher Ed Dive, college graduates are now spending more time unemployed with job hunters who only have a high school diploma.
Furthermore, the “low hire, low fire” system has made securing a job as a young graduate significantly harder. First of all, this process limits hiring opportunities because older or long time employees are able to keep their jobs for longer which limits hiring space. According to Georgetown University, Luke Pardue, policy director at the Aspen Institute’s Economic Strategy Group told the Times that “As the U.S population has aged, older workers are continuing to hold onto their positions.”. This creates a system where there is no space to hire and many young people seeking work are unable to find it.
