Young job seekers find it increasingly difficult to find work | Wilnesh News

After earning her graduate degree, Julianna Larock was bombarded with news about a strong labor market and a huge need for skilled workers.

But that’s not her reality.

Instead, she spent countless hours browsing sites like LinkedIn, attending mixers and other professional events, and generally looking in group workplaces for something that aligned with her desire to find a job in the world of finance. All to no avail.

“Honestly, it’s pretty brutal,” said LaRocque, 25, a native of Wilmington, Del., who now lives in New York City. “It feels like a lot of work with little response and little reward.”

Fortunately, after struggling through a year of dashed hopes, LaRocque found a full-time job as an executive assistant and researcher at Acumen, a nonprofit impact investing firm in New York. The company was founded by Jacqueline Novogratz, the sister of renowned investor Michael Novogratz, a cryptocurrency-focused CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners.

While Larocque is happy with where he is, getting there won’t be easy, and the future is uncertain.

“The depression and anxiety that comes with job hunting often spills over into many of my other social relationships,” said the University of Delaware and Fordham University graduate. “People can only be so supportive and you feel like every day It’s the same thing. I really hate monotony.”

Larocque’s experience comes at a time when the job market continues to decline, at least on the surface.

Nonfarm employment has increased by about 4 million since the beginning of 2023, continuing growth that began in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The unemployment rate has remained below 4% every month since January 2022, a strength not seen since the 1960s.

But there are growing concerns about the labor market Cracks began to appear. La Roque’s group of workers — those in their late teens to early 20s, including recent college graduates and others entering the workforce for the first time — appear particularly vulnerable.

this Employment rate for all workers According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, this proportion accounts for 3.6% of the labor force, slightly below the lowest level in the post-COVID-19 era. Before the pandemic, the last time hiring rates were below current levels was in August 2014.

“People often tell me that job quality or job search statistics aren’t that bad, and using that leverage invalidates my feelings,” Larocque said. “Whether they mean to do that or not, I don’t think so, that’s what it comes out of The impact. It makes me feel worse.”

Welcome to the good and bad news of the labor market, where the collective experience is positive but not so positive for individuals within specific groups.

Goldman Sachs economist Elsie Peng said in a recent report, “The good news is that for groups that are typically more vulnerable to weaker cyclical conditions, including workers without college degrees, monthly job finding rates have held up. at or above pre-pandemic levels” degree, workers in low-skilled industries, and foreign-born workers. “

“But the bad news is that new entrants to the labor market are not doing well,” Peng added.

Goldman Sachs data showed that monthly employment rates for workers with little prior work experience fell sharply, to 13% from a previous peak of 20%. While Peng described the job market as “generally strong”, she said there were “soft spots” that particularly affected “new entrants to the workforce”.

Although the unemployment rate for those aged 20 to 24 is 3.5%, it is slightly higher than the pre-pandemic level and is an area of ​​concern in the weakening labor market.

Molly Huang, 22, a recent graduate of Penn State University with a degree in aerospace engineering, also found the challenge of dealing with this situation — she was a began the process, which has become more intense now that she has graduated.

“To be honest, it’s not a big market. A lot of people I’ve talked to agree that it’s a little difficult to find full-time jobs for recent graduates,” the Horsham, Pa., resident said. “I was interviewed here and there but never got an actual offer.”

Huang admits that her expertise adds a level of difficulty to the search, so her approach is somewhat flexible.

“I’m trying to stay optimistic because a lot of people I know don’t start getting jobs until August, so I feel like I still have a little bit of time,” she said. “But at the same time, it does feel like the clock is ticking.”

The ratio of new employees to existing employees rose to 2.8% in April, the highest level since October 2022. According to Vanguard Groupwhich uses proprietary information collected from 401(k) plan registrations.

“However, hiring of younger workers has increased slightly in recent months, while hiring of older workers has been flat,” said David Pakula, an investment analyst at Vanguard.

Meanwhile, job search site Indeed reported that less than a third of all postings on the site in April listed specific years of experience, compared with nearly 40% two years ago. Indeed economist Cory Stahle believes the reason is more a shift toward “skills-first hiring,” deemphasizing educational background and focusing more on what future employees can bring to the table.

That’s both good news and bad news for young workers, some of whom had hoped expensive degrees would give them a foothold.

“The overall job market has really changed a lot since 2021 and ’22, so I do think college graduates are entering a more challenging job market than they have been in the last few years,” CEO Joanne Billy Joanie Bily, a workforce analyst at industrial staffing firm Employbridge.

For more health Bily noted that revenue figures have been growing since 22 million people lost their jobs early in the pandemic, with most of the recovery coming from health care, leisure and restaurants, and government jobs.

Julianna Larock actually works in finance Unemployment is higher It is now 2.7% higher than before the pandemic, compared with 1.7% in February 2020.

In addition, the family balance of income and expenditure Employment has shifted to part-time workOver the past 12 months, full-time employment increased by more than 1 million, while full-time employment fell by more than 500,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“While the labor market remains relatively tight, I do think we’re seeing softening in the overall U.S. job market, and we’ve definitely seen that decline since 2022,” Billy said. “What we’re seeing among college graduates Yes, they want to enter the workforce and start their careers, and many of them even find work in the leisure and hospitality industry because that’s where the job opportunities are.”

Ethan Mariano will double major in political science and international affairs from Gettysburg College later this year and pursue graduate studies at American University in Washington, D.C. Serves as a springboard to a career in foreign policy analysis at the State Department or a think tank.

So far, no luck.

“A lot of the jobs they say, even though they’re entry-level, we need two years of experience. Others say you need a Capitol Hill internship, which is difficult because only those who can afford to live in Washington, D.C., can get internships.” , said Mariano, 22, of Hazleton, Pa. “It’s difficult.”

Despite the odds, he remains optimistic, while also knowing that he may need to earn a graduate degree before he can truly establish himself.

“Yes, I’m optimistic. Maybe it’s my youthful naivety, but I think I’m going to find something,” Mariano said. “I just need to get my foot in the door.”