Only 50% of the college Class of 2020 had full-time jobs 6 months post grad

[boyptc]

I remember there's a sort of quote for the newly graduates, "Welcome to the world of unemployment".

It's really a kind of thing to deal with after graduation. These new graduates have to experience the hardship of being employed if they're pursuant and won't give up early after knowing the reality of life.

It also depends on the situation of the country but most likely each country that does have the same situation of having a limited opportunity.

Self employment and business entrepeneurship is the only way to go for me

I agree on this, everyone isn't bound for employment, and the same as being an entrepreneur. But making an opportunity for yourself is going to be a key to at least reducing the percentage of new graduates being unemployed. There's also the gig economy which is also going to be helpful for them.

[xSkylarx]

It would also be interested to know how the people who did not attend college fared. There is a lot of questioning on the real value of college and university education as it is , AFAIK, a free market in the USA and therefore by mere economic theory it will tend to reach a point in which the investment in time, money , effort would tend to an equilibrium with the benefits of such education (nicer jobs, better pay, better lifetime value). Did people looking for job without any degree do any better?

When the pandemic hits, I noticed that a lot of people are applying online (usually VA and developers, these people learn their skills online, most of the programmers I know don't have degrees, but when compared to those who graduated, they are more skilled). I don't have a degree, but I'm not saying I'm not competent; however, when compared to them, I have a slight advantage. When a pandemic strikes, people become bored, so they learn new skills and apply for jobs after a year.

[istiak2277]

I think 6 months is a really short-period... But 50% unemployment after graduation is a terrible statistics. I am sure that this number is way higher in developing countries.

In the long term, it's 66% in my country and the covid situation makes matters worse. The number is rising and govt doesn't have any plan to solve these issues.

The main point is: does the world really need all those   bachelor graduated?

There aren't jobs for all those people. Even in developed countries.

Most of the graduates from these developing country jobless because their education is based on theoretical lessons not practical. But in working sectors company wants someone who has done the work before and has good skills. These postgraduate doesn't have any of them.

[Sithara007]

Why blame the job market? Nowadays a lot of students opt for useless subjects such as gender studies, behavioral medicine, psychosociology and Islamic history, which doesn't have much relevance in the job market. And it is not surprising that once they graduate, these students struggle to find suitable jobs. In fields such as engineering and medicine, there is still a shortage of qualified freshers. In many of the developed nations, the governments are forced to allow immigration from other countries, to fill this gap.

[oHnK]

I don't think that this only happens in Spain, US and others.  However, almost all major countries experience the same thing because the number of people who are ready to work and the availability of job vacancies is not balanced.  This crisis occurs because the current production process is not significant in absorbing workers and companies replace labor with cheaper technology.  It is natural for such conditions to occur.  The solution is how the economic system can run by paying attention to labor absorption through labor-intensive programs.

[dezoel]

Why blame the job market? Nowadays a lot of students opt for useless subjects such as gender studies, behavioral medicine, psychosociology and Islamic history, which doesn't have much relevance in the job market. And it is not surprising that once they graduate, these students struggle to find suitable jobs. In fields such as engineering and medicine, there is still a shortage of qualified freshers. In many of the developed nations, the governments are forced to allow immigration from other countries, to fill this gap.

There are two things wrong with your statement, and it is victim shaming at the very best that has been talked about the right wing for over a decade that has been shot down a million times already but they do not like to do research so it is normal that you do not know the answers of your "questioning". First of all, if there is a college major in the name of gender studies or psychology or whatever else that on your high ground you deem "not worthy of becoming a major", then why is it available?

If it is available to pick and people do pick it, then they become unemployed, is it their fault? Then if it doesn't provide any job at all and we do not "need" these majors then remove them from college? Even in your case where you somehow play the god and decide some majors are worthless based on your vast experience and super smart mind, that is a problem by colleges and not students for starting a major with high unemployment rate that the nation doesn't need more of.

Secondly just to get hired, do we have to become engineers? Or doctors? Or lawyers? Or software developers? Are we fine with the fact that we should not have any painters anymore? Or just engineers who like to do painting as a hobby to become the next picasso? It is just BS spread by media that some people "should become unemployed because their majors are unworthy". EVERYONE should be employed, that is a good nation, if you are trying to focus on finding a reason for people to be unemployed then you are part of the problem, not the solution.

[Silberman]

As someone who went to University I don’t find this surprisingly at all. I think about 50% or so of all my friends and classmates are not even in the same profession.

Most degrees are useless and you won’t have a career out of it. You won’t get a job when you graduate from Arts or Sciences, maybe unless you want to teach.

All the other degrees like law, engineering, etc are very competitive to get actually hired. There are more spots for students then there are jobs.

Currently 1 job vacancy is up for grabs by 10 thousand job seekers, the competition is getting tougher every day.  For this reason, graduates must be able to think even harder, if they don't get a job, they must be able to start their own business even though it requires a strong mentality and capital..

And if to this we add that now thanks to the Internet you are not only competing against people that are near you but against people all around the world then the competition has become even fiercer than what it was in the past, so there is no doubt that the working conditions have gone down significantly during the last decades and if to this we add that in the US there is a huge crisis coming due to student loans then things could get even more complicated.

[fiulpro]

I do think that now a days we don't really have to focus just on that but we also have to focus on the rights and health of the workers, the workers are actually leaving their jobs because they are not paid well and at the same time this overworking is causing them immense stress. People are leaving their jobs !! Especially during the pandemic, makes us think how they were treated for real. I do think that it's really important that the companies do realize that people need respect and plans, better services and payments.
I went in so many interviews and for 40 hours a week they were providing only 330$ which I indeed have to do if the things don't turn out well, that's the payment scale for full time jobs in third world companies. It's really terrible out there.
Degrees are essentially not useless if you worked hard on yours, which takes ages and a lot of money as well, people have to apply for a student loan and then they have to pay back the loans through jobs, they earn nothing in between!! That's all a big dark web.

[naira]

Even in the country where I live, college graduates in 2020 are worse than those listed in the table. It was felt by myself, plus the pandemic that started at that time made it more difficult for us to find sources of income after leaving college. Working as a civil servant was made even more difficult and the reduced quota of workers made us feel almost hopeless.

Unless we jump in and look for work on the internet, therefore the role of the internet is very useful and we find a sector of work that suits our talents and interests. At this time, outstanding skills need to be continuously developed, and must be able to create innovative ideas such as in the development of the digital world.

[Gyfts]

How do you solve the "college degree bubble" that's forming?

Force colleges to cosign for any loans for students in their institution. When loans are handed out like candy to essentially children (I don't consider most teenagers to be capable of thinking with an adult mind set), the consequence is student loan debt in perpetuity for the misfortunate of overpaying for a degree the market deems to be worthless. I understand Covid skews the statistic much more than in previous years, but Covid only accelerates the bubble growth.

[Fortify]

The college class of 2020 entered one of the most hostile labor markets in recent history. During the first year of the Covid pandemic, employment decreased across the country. By many measures, college graduates fared best during this period, but as time passes, research is capturing just how difficult conditions are for young workers.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) recently analyzed the outcomes for 563,000 bachelor’s graduates across 337 colleges and universities and found that only 50.2% of the class of 2020 had full-time jobs with a traditional employer (meaning they are not working as a freelancer or entrepreneur) within six months of graduation. In comparison, 55.3% of the class of 2019 graduates were employed within the same time frame.

Students who attended colleges with fewer than 2,000 students tended to do better after graduation. Closer to 62% of these students had full-time positions after six months.

Around 2012, I remember reading about the economies of portugal and spain suffering from 50% youth unemployment statistics. (Youth unemployment is ages 19-24) My reaction to this news was...  "the united states could someday suffer from the same troubles, and we would be very much unprepared for it". When I see economic doom and gloom in foreign lands and 3rd world countries, I always think similar trends will reach the shores of america eventually. Years later, america has finally arrived to having the same 50% youth unemployment statistics spain and portugal suffered 10 years ago.

The worst part of a 50% youth unemployment rate isn't usually on the surface. Its what is not seen, reflected in an uptick of suicide rates for young adults. Rising rates of homelessness for youth. Coupled with greater incidence of substance abuse, crime and violence. It was said to have taken more than a decade for sailors to accept the explanation of scurvy being caused by lack of citrus fruits and vitamin C. It may naturally follow that it will take decades for people to adequately become informed on and respond to topics like high youth unemployment.

The learning curve of people becoming informed and competent on topics, could be greatly reduced. People might be learning and responding at greatly accelerated rates in contrast to past precedents. While current events are not great, do we all feel tempted to acknowledge that people are smarter and better informed than we gave them credit for being? Perhaps we can feel better about circumstances even if they are not ideal. And have hope for the future, in that people today might be smarter and more knowledgeable than those in past eras. It may no longer take 10 years for people to accept scurvy being caused by fruit and vitamin C deficiency. Perhaps we can respond to and fix these types of issues much more quickly now

Unfortunately it is a highly repetitive story, you'd see a similar pattern if you overlayed the years up to and including the 2008 financial crisis. The people at the bottom end of the job scale (people just coming into the workforce) will often face the hardest struggles during the dip of a recession with employers much less likely to take on new staff when the current workers are in unprecedented lockdowns. That combined with the Covid effect on hospitality in general, which is a very common starting pool for part time jobs and utilizes workers from the youngster age groups a lot. We'll see a slow recovery as people start travelling and socializing more, but it'll be a bumpy road.

[Rehan Zakir]

There are many issue of unemployment of graduates. So, Bitcoin currency is a currency that provide opportunity for graduates student to make money. Just by learning some basic knowledge and investment. After that you can earn a passive income at home. So, it's a best opportunity for students that have no job and no source of income..

[geegaw]

There are many issue of unemployment of graduates. So, Bitcoin currency is a currency that provide opportunity for graduates student to make money. Just by learning some basic knowledge and investment. After that you can earn a passive income at home. So, it's a best opportunity for students that have no job and no source of income..

University students who have graduated but have not had a job recently are just temporary staff cuts due to Covid, try a little more time there will be no unemployment for recent college graduates because the government is coordinating very strongly the business and economic path, it is very closely repaired so as not to go into a severe recession, recruited human resources will soon be abundant. Don't steer through bitcoin, a few years of college with a high degree of expertise is still rejected by the corporate market a few times, just a few basics of bitcoin investment and requires a passive income, I'm afraid it's too soon ambition

[Cling18]

As someone who went to University I don’t find this surprisingly at all. I think about 50% or so of all my friends and classmates are not even in the same profession.

Most degrees are useless and you won’t have a career out of it. You won’t get a job when you graduate from Arts or Sciences, maybe unless you want to teach.

All the other degrees like law, engineering, etc are very competitive to get actually hired. There are more spots for students than there are jobs.

Some students didn't graduate yet become successful in life. As for me, it isn't all about the profession but skills. There are lots of high-paying jobs these days that don't require any professional attainment. Yes, having a degree is an advantage but since we're in the modern-day generation, we could easily acquire skills easily online and through other resources that could provide us a good job in the end.

[batang_bitcoin]

There are many issue of unemployment of graduates. So, Bitcoin currency is a currency that provide opportunity for graduates student to make money. Just by learning some basic knowledge and investment. After that you can earn a passive income at home. So, it's a best opportunity for students that have no job and no source of income..

That's a very far statement for the comparison of having an opportunity for unemployed and investment. It sounds easy to say that these unemployed can get into bitcoin and earn passively. But if you're going to understand what you're saying, if trading is what you meant.
Not everybody is bound to be a trader, there could be few that may become successful on it but saying that someone can earn passively on it, that's really not an easy thing to prove to them on this very volatile market.

[DrBeer]

As I understand it, this is surprising for the author 7 Then I will add a few more "surprising facts":
1. Education given in college is not a guarantee that it is really needed and of high quality
2. It is not a fact that a person who graduated from college is a carrier or useful knowledge in demand.
3. Not the fact that your knowledge is needed here and now. Perhaps not here, and perhaps not now. In the meantime, get busy ... with a new education.
4. Flexibility of self-education, with developed thinking and the presence of a basis - can give a much better result! Yes, not in 5 years, but in 3-5 months, a person can study and get a demanded specialty
5....

[bitgolden]

Unfortunately it is a highly repetitive story, you'd see a similar pattern if you overlayed the years up to and including the 2008 financial crisis. The people at the bottom end of the job scale (people just coming into the workforce) will often face the hardest struggles during the dip of a recession with employers much less likely to take on new staff when the current workers are in unprecedented lockdowns. That combined with the Covid effect on hospitality in general, which is a very common starting pool for part time jobs and utilizes workers from the youngster age groups a lot. We'll see a slow recovery as people start travelling and socializing more, but it'll be a bumpy road.

The even worse situation is that people at the bottom are the ones that end up with getting fired and the ones who stayed are given the work load of the previous people as well. So instead of 10k warehouse workers, you have 7k of them and give those 7k people the workload of 10k and not like they can leave neither because they would fail to find another job. So, we have people who are unemployed AND people who are employed but worked tirelessly as well.

This will never lead to anything decent in the long run, which is why I doubt that it would be doing anyone any good but that is how the economy works, CEO's and shareholders and board of directors will not take a pay cut, they will just lay that off to bottom workers.

[herurist]

a factor that is indeed proof that education does not always make work, but people always believe that with education we can work and serve as a reference that going to a higher level of schooling can make work easier.
and this is proof that such a thing is not entirely true.
on the other hand, there may be several factors that do affect it, such as the current pandemic, which could be one of the reasons why this can happen.

[Rufsilf]

There is no doubt that unemployment is on the rise whether in Spain or US, the challenge is how to take care of it and the youth are the worst hit on this. It has affected many youth and yet it rate keeps rising because there are no better effort to provide proper and sufficient employment. In US, the rate is increasing from the past administration to the current.

Well I think unemployment problems doesn't just occur in Spain or USA alone. It occurs in all parts of the world because of insufficient job slots that's why people tend to leave their own country after graduating to find a decent job that suits their abilities or their degree in other countries or because it pays a lot better than where they came from.
Also there are some cases that these young adults nowadays who have just graduated in college doesn't seek any jobs at all because it's not their passion or degree they like. Especially in Asian countries because parents tend to decide what courses to take even if it doesn't suit to what they want to take up.
So the results is only 50% or less than that have a full-time jobs after they graduate.

[timerland]

That graph is quite misleading given the skewed scales in my opinion.

I think that it is definitely a real effect in the sense that they were not able to find jobs immediately following the pandemic, but just a few months after the pandemic the job market has become incredibly hot again.

If you are a talented coder etc. you will have absolutely 0 issue with finding employment in the current climate. In fact recruiters will beg for you.