William Simpson
After earning their college degrees this month, recent graduates are understandably eager to land their first job and start making their education count. But that could pose a greater challenge this year than in 2023.
Hiring of recent graduates is expected to fall 6% compared to the previous year, according to a recent research of more than 200 employers from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a group that represents college career services employees.
Data from payroll services provider Gusto also shows that the new graduate hiring rate – the share of recent graduates who are hired in a given month – is now around 6%, down from a recent peak of 10%. in 2021. Still, the hiring rate is about the same level as last year, with Gusto chief economist Liz Wilke telling CBS MoneyWatch that the job market for recent graduates is relatively stable.
40% underemployed
Securing your first job after college can be a rite of passage, but it can also be stressful for young adults who need to pay for groceries and pay rent. And about 4 in 10 recent college graduates are currently “underemployed,” meaning they are working in a job that doesn’t require a college degree, according to data of the Federal Reserve Bank of St.
“We know that the first job out of college is incredibly important in setting the course for the rest of a person’s career,” Wilke said. “However, not every college graduate will enter a booming job market, and some don’t have the option to be choosy.”
According to Gusto, the top five sectors currently hiring new graduates are legal, non-profits, arts and entertainment, health and social care, and construction.
“Recent graduates with skills applicable to these industries will likely see increased interest in their resumes,” noted Wilke.
Some industries are planning to reduce the number of new hires from the class of 2024, the National Association of Colleges and Employers found in its survey. Among them are computer and electronics manufacturers, with those companies projecting a decline of about 12% in hiring of recent graduates, while financial companies expect a drop of almost 15%, the group concluded.
Technology companies have cut thousands of jobs in recent months as they shift to artificial intelligence. However, recent graduates who know how to work with artificial intelligence may have an advantage, Wilke said.
“AI skills are something [businesses] are targeting this younger group of workers,” she added. “Business owners believe that since this younger generation has ‘come of age’ with this technology, they are better equipped to figure out how to best deploy it. put it into practice.”
Employers say the modest decline in hiring comes after an extremely tight job market in the years after the pandemic, when it was harder to find workers and they didn’t see as many resumes.
“It’s easier now than it was last year,” said Chris Jones, founder of tutoring company Planting Seeds Academic Solutions, which is now in the process of hiring about 40 workers, many of them recent graduates, for its training camps. summer. “We’re getting 50 to 100 applicants per position,” compared to 20 to 30 applicants in 2021 to 2022, a time when he said many applicants didn’t want to work in person.
Samuel Clark, CEO of Broadway Crew, which provides staffing and support for Broadway shows, said he believes hiring has returned to a more “normal” pace.
“A year ago it was really, really hard, I was tearing my hair out and paying them an absurd amount of money to make sure they got there on time,” Clark told CBS MoneyWatch. “Now the power dynamics are coming back into the middle.”
For recent graduates looking for work, Clark said his advice is to hurry up, but noted that getting that first job can be difficult. “Sometimes it is very difficult and you have to endure the slings and arrows,” she added.
What New Graduates Want in a Job
As for what new grads want in their first jobs, they’re looking for hybrid roles, with some days in-person and some days remote, Vicki Salemi, a career expert at workplace Monster, told CBS New York. And they are very interested in learning about a job’s salary, with particular fear of ending up underemployed, she added.
“They want to talk about salary in the job interview,” Salemi said. “They may not even get the job if salary is not discussed in the interview.”
This is especially important in high-cost cities like New York, which Gusto found is the top metro area for hiring the class of 2024, accounting for 10% of all new graduate hires. The average starting salary for a recent graduate in New York is $64,134, which equates to just $28,500 in other cities when adjusted for cost of living, Gusto found.
“Our report shows New York as the most popular city for recent graduates, but last on the list in terms of affordability,” Wilke said. “People this age should consider what cities they see themselves in and the jobs those cities have to offer.”
