Most students feel anxious about their job prospects after graduating college, but the class of 2025 is downright dour.
Around 57% of the class of 2025 feels pessimistic about starting their careers, a notable increase from 49% of the previous class last year, according to a new Handshake survey of 1,925 undergraduate students who plan to graduate in 2025.
Their top concerns are ones that HR pros are all too familiar with, including stress over a tight labor market and apprehensions about using AI in the workplace. Addressing them can help give students a softer landing into their careers.
No job opportunities, but a whole lotta debt. Students named four primary concerns contributing to their poor outlook. Intense competition for jobs was at the top of the list, cited by 63% of respondents.
It’s not hard to see why they’re concerned about landing a job: Many members of the class of 2024 have struggled to find employment in today’s cooling labor market, and some have even applied to as many as 100 jobs without netting any offers.
While HR leaders can’t control how many applications they receive, they can try to improve the candidate experience, Christine Cruzvergara, Handshake’s chief education strategy officer, told HR Brew. This may involve transparently sharing where candidates are in the process, how they compare to other applicants, and expectations for each step in the hiring process.
Student loan debt was the second top driver of students’ cynicism, with 54% calling it a major source of stress. Women, Black, and first-generation students were even more likely to cite loans as a stressor.
Yet, only 9% of all jobs posted on Handshake in the past year offered student loan repayment benefits. HR leaders can advocate for these benefits as part of their recruitment and retention strategy. It can take years to pay off student loans, and employees may be inclined to stick with an employer that is helping them pay off their debt.
“For some of your early talent, you’re probably going to actually keep them longer, and they’re going to be more invested and more loyal to the company,” she said. “These are the little things that could change the trajectory of early talent jumping every two years from job to job, if they have something like that.”
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The election and AI are also top concerns. Some 46% of respondents believe the 2024 election will significantly influence their career trajectory. While talking politics at work, let alone in the hiring process, was once considered taboo, Gen Z job-seekers are redefining norms, with some even asking prospective employers about their political stances during job interviews, Cruzvergara noted. Recruiters or hiring managers could use this as an opportunity to share the employer’s take on policy platforms related to their industry. For example, a company in the energy industry might respond to a question about climate change.
The surveyed students don’t think generative AI will create more jobs (49%) or make hiring more equitable (45%). Moreover, just 22% of respondents said they’d be more likely to apply to a company integrating generative AI tools into their processes, products, and services, compared to 33% who disagreed with that statement and 45% who were neutral.
But these soon-to-be college graduates are using generative AI more than the classes of 2023 and 2024, Cruzvergara said. Instead of embracing AI blindly, they want employers to be more transparent about how they’re using the technology to hire and select candidates, as well as in day-to-day work and company products. In fact, 70% of respondents believe generative AI needs to be more strictly regulated.
“This class will be asking and digging for a lot more information,” Cruzvergara said. “I think companies that are not able to answer some of those questions are going to lose out on some of the talent because they’re either going to be wary about the employer, or they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, they haven’t even thought about it at all.’ I think your ability to speak to it is quite important.”
Update 08/21/2024: This piece has been updated to reflect that Handshake surveyed 1,925 undergraduate students.