Gen Z faces a frustrating job market

That’s the finding of student job platform Handshake in a recently released report that surveyed 1,925 members of the senior class. In a temperature check, the undergraduate career platform scored a resoundingly lukewarm result. More than half (57%) of the class of 2025 said they feel pessimistic about starting their careers. Last year, that number was just 49 percent of the graduating class.

The source behind these darkening clouds is the upward labor market, and students are applying for additional jobs and working harder to get their foot in the door. Also contributing to this heightened sense of gloom and anxiety about student loan debt, the surge in artificial intelligence and the current state of politics, the report says. Faced with a different set of circumstances, this cohort shifts its priorities.

“Faced with a challenging economic landscape, recent Gen Z graduates are taking a significantly different approach to their career goals compared to their older peers who graduated before 2021,” said Christine Cruzvergara, chief education strategy officer at Handshake. wealth. “We noticed that previous cohorts prioritized flexibility and work-life balance; more recent classes have shown a growing preference for stability and goal-oriented work.”

In other words, this micro-generation of Gen Zers is trying to get a steady gig. It makes sense, given the difficulty they found in simply getting a job. Over the years there have been reports of an increasingly frustrating and protracted job search. In part, the situation was attributed to employers’ increased leverage after layoffs and the automation of the hiring process, Hillary Hofflower wrote for Fast company.

“Success in this market requires a strategic and intentional approach, and seniors are already taking proactive steps to stand out,” said Cruzvergara, who described the ambitious class as “short-term pessimist, long-term optimist. Fears of a different market are not unfounded, as Handshake reported that job creation on its platform this year “lagged behind 2023 levels, in line with national trends.” In response, “the number of applications per job was significantly higher than in any of the past five years,” generating more frenzy.

Even so, undergraduates trust the institution. They may be bracing themselves for a tougher end to the four years, but that doesn’t mean they’ve lost faith in the system itself. 88% said college contributed a lot or quite a bit to their personal growth and development, and 85% said the experience shaped their career goals. Students brace themselves for a longer and perhaps bumpier journey to their dream gig. Many students, 45%, expect to make a pivot at least once in their career.

That said, the yellow brick road to an entry-level position has gotten all the longer these days. The current class has already spent over 30 hours researching potential career paths. This comes after last year the class of 2024 submitted 64 percent more job applications than the seniors before them. The Class of 2025 is set to continue the new tradition, already submitting an average of 24% more applications per job than the Class of 2024 at the same time last year.

While this competition for gigs is the main source of stress (64%), with additional concerns about job security and sufficient pay, concerns about student loans (54%), generative artificial intelligence and the upcoming election (45%) have added fire to the fire. .

Anxiety about loans has increased among women, black students and first-generation college-goers, as Handshake pointed out as these groups are more likely to carry debt. And while the fate of federal aid is up in the air along with a host of other socioeconomic issues, nearly half (46%) of respondents say the fate of the 2024 presidential election will affect their careers. Adding to the uncertainty is the implementation of AI, which much of the class of 2025 would like to slow down, please. A majority (70%) say generative AI should be more tightly regulated.

“I applied to more than 100 jobs before landing my current internship,” a Class of 2025 finance major told Handshake in the report. “Right now I’m going through the process with one company and it’s going well, but if that doesn’t work I’ll start applying to as many jobs as possible,” they added.

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