Recent college graduates are having a harder time finding work, despite their higher education degrees, which usually give job-seekers a leg up in the labor market.
That’s according to a new report from Oxford Economics which shows that unemployed recent college grads account for 12% of an 85% rise in the national unemployment rate since mid-2023. That’s a high number, given that this cohort only makes up 5% of the total labor force.
What’s more, the rate of unemployment among workers who have recently graduated from college and are between the ages of 22 and 27, is nearing 6% —which is above the national unemployment rate of 4.2%.
Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives
there are too many people
Anecdotally in tech it feels like nobody wants to hire juniors anymore. I wouldn’t want to be a fresh grad these days.
I’m seeing a group of fresh geneticists from one of the best unis in the world wondering what to do as academia salaries are falling behind inflation and biotech is not hiring. It feels so fucked up that you have all these smart people being forced to do nothing because labour is limited by capital. “Most efficient way to organise the economy” my ass.
My entire working life always felt like there was an oversupply of workers. I’ve never been in a position where there was readily room for advancement. I’m not even talking about me, but my peers too.
It was always like, “Work this job for a few years and maybe a position will open.”
The first “real” job I had was at a bank and the executive of sales was like late-30s or early-40s. If I did the apply for a promotion every few years thing, I’d be significantly older than him before I was at that point.
How can they say you need all these years experience if the exec is so young. It didn’t make any sense.
How can they say you need all these years experience if the exec is so young. It didn’t make any sense.
His dad worked there as an executive.
Anecdotally in tech it feels like nobody wants to hire juniors anymore. I wouldn’t want to be a fresh grad these days.
I’ve watched this occur over the last 20 years. We’ve slowly automated away lots of work (or simply disposed of that work) that juniors would do which allowed juniors to grow into seniors. I’ve watched in horror as the ladder has been pulled up behind me knowing that others can’t take the path I did to success. Lots of things we used to fix, we simply dispose of, and a disposal worker needs much less skill and critical thinking to perform their job.
Its very difficult to mentor juniors now because I can’t see a path for most to advance.
Why hire juniors when you can hire desperate mid-levels for junior salaries?
Unironically the only thing I could ever recommend any American do out of high school anymore is find your comrades and fight the fucking empire in the streets. Work doesn’t pay, school doesn’t lead to work that pays, trades destroy your body. At least if you find comrades to do stuff with, you can support each other and take advantage of numbers.
Anything else at this point requires you to agree to get fractally scammed, fucked over, used, and abused by capitalists at every part of the transaction.
Nothing to worry about, Trump will create manufacturing jobs to make your degree completely obsolete and give you a job to pay your debt.
Trump will create manufacturing jobs
Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt (because I don’t think this is going to work out like you’re saying) and say that tariffs on imports will drive an increase in manufacturing jobs. Well how long does it take for a new factory to translate from concept to production? The answer is years, so I guess we can anticipate this payoff starting in 2027? Meanwhile, all the legislation actually passed under Biden to incentivize American manufacturing jobs, he’s actively undermining, e.g. the CHIPS Act and IRA.
First, manufacturing jobs aren’t jobs of the future. That’s why manufacturing was moved overboard. Second, your estimate is way too agressive, it takes decades and some supply chains cannot be moved at all. Third, the current unemployment rate is around 4% which is almost full employment. Where will you find the workers for these manufacturing jobs current people in the USA aren’t qualified for?
I think you misunderstood me and I may I have misunderstood you
United States has been working on getting rid of the middle class long before Trump
Democrats never cared for middle class either and it shows with the stagnated minimum wage
Democrats never cared for middle class either and it shows with the stagnated minimum wage
Your argument might carry weight if it wasn’t the reality that Democrat controlled states have substantially higher minimum wages.
If you are looking for your low minimum wage examples, you’ll find them in GOP controlled states.
Can you explain Krysten Sinema voting against raising the federal minimum wage? She’s a Democrat that campaigned on the promise of raising it, then didn’t when it came time to vote.
Which is very much my experience voting Dem for the last 20 years.
Not that the GOP is a better option. Far from. It. But Dems still clearly cast their votes in favor of whoever’s paying them, not their base. They’ll promise a better Healthcare option, better job security, better wages, even hold both the house and senate and still want to compromise with themselves.
All I’ve seen them do is put a bandaid on whatever the GOP broke, and promise for years to kiss it until it gets better.
Then act shocked that just adding more bandaids has lead to the wound underneath festering.
Healthcare reform? Bandaid. Minimum wage? Bandaid Public education? Bandaid. Cost of higher education? Bandaid. Job security? Bandaid. Retirement? Bandaid. 2008 Banking Crisis? Bandaid. (Took them 16 years to implement the CAT fraud detection system, just in time for Trump to yeet it) Housing costs? Bandaid. 36 trillion being added to the national debt in 25 years? Bandaid. Dozens of dead kids at Columbine? No bandaid at all! Now hundreds and hundreds of kids have been killed by guns in school over the DECADES that followed.
By all means name a single facet of American life that Democrats have managed to actually improve in the last 20 years, and I’ll point to our current president who just tore off all those bandaids and poured salt on the wound.
Dems have the same boss as the GOP, they’ve just convinced themselves they’re the good guys when they collect their corporate blood money.
Can you explain Krysten Sinema voting against raising the federal minimum wage? She’s a Democrat that campaigned on the promise of raising it, then didn’t when it came time to vote.
Easily explained. She’s a lying asshole.
Lets look at the vote results on that one:
There are 7 Democrats voting against it which is way more than I’d like. Do the math though. Even with all 7 of those Democrats voting in favor, the measure would still have failed with a vote of 49 YEA and 51 NAY. Not even a tie breaking vote possibility with the Vice President. However, how many Republicans voting for it? Zero. If you’re expecting absolute party unity legislative agendas you’re not being realistic. There are plenty of Americans that vote against their own interests whenever they vote in Republicans.
But Dems still clearly cast their votes in favor of whoever’s paying them, not their base.
You think Health Insurance Companies paid Democrats to write and pass the ACA (Obamacare)? You think the Finance industry paid Democrats to pass Dodd–Frank which also created the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau? No? Then which is it? Are Democrats voting for whoever’s paying them or passing at least some legislation that favors their base?
All I’ve seen them do is put a bandaid on whatever the GOP broke, and promise for years to kiss it until it gets better.
So you’re seeing Democrats actually addressing concerns and passing legislation? Isn’t that a really good thing?
By all means name a single facet of American life that Democrats have managed to actually improve in the last 20 years, and I’ll point to our current president who just tore off all those bandaids and poured salt on the wound.
Okay here’s one: The ACA is still in place preventing Health Insurance Companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions, charging women more for premiums, and preventing Swiss-cheese policy coverage.
I’m not saying the Democrats are perfect, far from it. In fact, if AOC and Bernie started a real progressive party, I’d be the first one to jump on that bandwagon. However, until that time, if you’re expecting a single party to not only pass wide sweeping legislation that favors the party ideology, you’re going to need massively more people voting for that party or simply using dictatorial abusive government powers like the GOP is doing today to make Project 2025 a reality.
I’m aware of everything you mentioned. Here’s the point I’m making:
Both of those are now torn off bandaids too. Despite the decades of Democratic effort to put them in place.
With them gone, the problems of overpriced Healthcare and a corporate captured banking system are immediately a problem again. All because neither were designed to fix these issues to begin with. Just bandaid them up until the GOP could enevitably tear them off.
There’s quite a lot of policies the Dems have passed that make it look like they made progress. But all of it is temporary, non systemic changes that are simple to undo. So over decades, all their efforts are easily and eventually undone.
Their polices, at best, work on the small scale because Democratic leadership on the large scale doesn’t reflect their voting base. They reflect their corporate donors.
7 didn’t want to raise Federal minimum wage for the first time in 2 decades? Kinda sounds like 7 Dems just voted like Republicans for no good reason to me. Which happens a lot. (Fetterman).
You’re okay with that for some reason. I’m not. I’d be pretty pissed that my only option for raising the federal minimum wage is to vote for a political party that turns around and votes in line with their opposition. The GOP having the majority does not absolve them of this behavior. If my vote matters, why didn’t it here? I voted for Sinema, so what should I have done differently to raise the federal minimum wage?
Kinda fucked there’s literally no path forward to do that because my vote isn’t as important as having enough Dems on the team. An amount that I can’t control with my single vote, and doesn’t even work well when it’s reached.
ACA could have had a universal Healthcare option. You know, an actual systemic fix to the massive problem with Healthcare costs? But It didn’t because once we had enough Dems to do that, they just chose to compromise with the GOP instead.
Because even with enough Dems, the policies they pass have to be bandaids. Their donors push them to build a solution out of paper, they sell it to you as brick, all so you’ll blame the GOP once they easily blow it down instead of ask why in the fuck was it so easy to blow down to begin with.
How about the Dems stop making paper policies? How about they treat the wound instead of applying another bandaid, and spending millions convincing you it won’t be torn off.
Show me a single policy of theirs from the last 20 years that hasn’t been made of tissue the GOP has now sneezed in.
I’m aware of everything you mentioned. Here’s the point I’m making:
Dodd-Frank had it’s teeth removed in 2018 with Trump’s Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.
I specifically called out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that was created from Dodd-Frank. Yes, trump tried to destroy it, and lost in 2018.
“Consumer protection bureau structure upheld in blow to Trump’s deregulation efforts” source
Here’s the most recent Bill introduced to Congress for Repealing the ACA.
Do you not remember trump’s campaign pledge from 2016 of “repeal and replace Obamacare”? How many bills were introduced that went no where? So far this is just another one of those. Until something else passes, the ACA is the law of the land.
Both of those are now torn off bandaids too. Despite the decades of Democratic effort to put them in place.
Nope, neither of the things I cited were. You’re predicting a future when they might be, and saying that its already happened. Don’t do that.
With them gone, the problems of overpriced Healthcare and a corporate captured banking system are immediately a problem again.
Sure, except they aren’t gone. They’re law right now as we speak.
All because neither were designed to fix these issues to begin with. Just bandaid them up until the GOP could enevitably tear them off.
You’ve referred to this “bandaid” several times. It sounds like you think that there is such a thing as “permanent fix” and that all voters and policy makers in the USA agree on that one thing. That is pure fantasy. Our whole system of government is designed to change over time. Some for the bad 18th Amendment, and later good changes that fix that with the 21st Amendment. If you don’t want a system that can change under the original Constitution we’d still have slavery and women wouldn’t be able to vote.
There’s quite a lot of policies the Dems have passed that make it look like they made progress. But all of it is temporary, non systemic changes that are simple to undo. So over decades, all their efforts are easily and eventually undone.
There is no such thing as permanent change in public policy in the US system of government.
Their polices, at best, work on the small scale because Democratic leadership on the large scale doesn’t reflect their voting base. They reflect their corporate donors.
We’ve already disproved this with Dodd-Frank passage and ACA. Neither of those made corporate donors happy. I’m not saying that they always vote for the base, but you’re saying they never do, and that’s just not factual.
7 didn’t want to raise Federal minimum wage for the first time in 2 decades? Kinda sounds like 7 Dems just voted like Republicans for no good reason to me. Which happens a lot. (Fetterman). You’re okay with that for some reason. I’m not. I’d be pretty pissed that my only option for raising the federal minimum wage is to vote for a political party that turns around and votes in line with their opposition.
No, I understand the limits and realities of a divided nation. This is especially true now when you and I are of the minority opinion in government.
The GOP having the majority does not absolve them of this behavior. If my vote matters, why didn’t it here? I voted for Sinema, so what should I have done differently to raise the federal minimum wage?
Because just you don’t determine policy.
Kinda fucked there’s literally no path forward to do that because my vote isn’t as important as having enough Dems on the team. An amount that I can’t control with my single vote, and doesn’t even work well when it’s reached.
There’s no great answer on this. Start another party, or join Democrats and take charge of leadership there. Otherwise, you’re left with the choices that other people trying to change things put to you, as watered down as that is when it gets to the ballot box. These things are complicated. Its just not simple. A quote comes to mind:
“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time” - Winston Churchil
ACA could have had a universal Healthcare option. You know, an actual systemic fix to the massive problem with Healthcare costs? But It didn’t because once we had enough Dems to do that, they just chose to compromise with the GOP instead.
What compromise with the GOP? Not a single GOP senator voted for the ACA: source
Universal Healthcare would not have passed into law even by the democrats alone without the changes made to make it what it was. The ACA barely passed into law.
Would I like Universal Healthcare? Yes. Has the ACA done nothing for us? Absolutely not. You can’t get everything you want when you want it. That’s not life. That’s not politics where people disagree on thousands of different factors. Getting something is much better than nothing. A perfect example is Cap and Trade in 2009 drastically reducing the pollution and climate change we face today. Except some people said it didn’t do enough, so they killed it. Here we are a decade and a half later with far worse climate impacts because of those dissenter’s actions.
How about the Dems stop making paper policies? How about they treat the wound instead of applying another bandaid, and spending millions convincing you it won’t be torn off.
There is not one universal agreement on what “treating the wound” would mean. What we get are the most agreed to approaches for all representatives, not just Democrats. If you want one unifying ideology, you’ll need to go to a place like China.
My dude. You are not grasping the point I’m making.
Both ACA and Dodd-Frank will unquestionably be gone in the next 3 years. Likely before the end of this one.
Sure. They aren’t yet. But you might as well be telling me the strengths and accomplishments of Dems for their work on Roe v Wade. Because likewise, ACA and Dodd Frank won’t matter once they’re gone.
Because neither went far enough when it was critical for our society that they did.
Dodd Frank’s few wins like the Madatory Reporting system (Cat) took 15 years, and a billion of our tax dollars to implement, and Trump 5 months to propose getting rid of.
ACA was already cut down last Trump admin with Trump adding denials for pre-existing conditions back into the mix.
And all because when the Dems controlled the house, senate, and presidency - and had a clear shot at an actual solution to the growing problem of Healthcare costs - they capitulated the idea of a public option to Lieberman for no reason at all:
The public option was initially proposed for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but was removed after the independent US senator for Connecticut Joe Lieberman threatened a filibuster.
The public option was later supported by… President Joe Biden. However, Joe Biden made no attempt to implement a public option in his four years as President.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_health_insurance_option
Is the ACA great? Sure. Love it.
But it’s done absolutley nothing to curb the rising costs of Healthcare.
Instead, it has enflamed them by making medical insurance mandatory. This padded the bottom line of our predatory health insurance industry, and allowed them to slowly cook us for the decades to come. All so Trump could then make one change in the 2017 budget bill so insurance could then deny us coverage for existing conditions while pushing mandatory payments onto companies that could afford their needlessly rising costs.
Now Healthcare insurance CEO’s are getting shot, as the money the ACA forces companies to pay towards insurance isn’t actually going to our Healthcare - it goes towards funding AI to deny us coverage.
That’s what I mean by bandaid.
The ACA was a paper hat on problem that made it look a whole lot better, but actually just let it get worse. That hat can also be easily removed, turned upside down, and then used by the GOP to funnel salt into our countries wounds once they feel like it.
Because just you don’t determine policy.
Working together with everyone else in Arizona to elect Democrat Kristen Synema didn’t determine policy either.
That’s my point.
Our “representatives” do not, in fact, have to represent the will of the people that elected them. There is zero mechanisms forcing a Democrat to act like one, and millions of dollars in corporate fundraising incentives to act otherwise.
But instead of acknowledging this reality and pushing for their accountability, I should run for their office instead?
I’m ALL for a new political party. And I 💯% agree that me and others would make a hell of a difference in office as Democrats or otherwise. I completely agree with you there.
What I don’t agree with, is that fixing the Democratic party is my responsibility.
My responsibly is to fix America. Not the political party that always fails to stop the GOP from breaking it.
I’ve been voting Dem for decades, and all I’ve heard from them is that my fears about the future were unwarranted, despite us now all living in them.
Just as you are telling me now not to worry about the ACA and Dodd Frank. They will disappear, just like everything else the Dems have accomplished in my adult lifetime. Not because the GOP undid it, but because DEMS didn’t work hard enough to make sure it couldn’t be undone.
If you want me and others to help the Democratic party, you should acknowledge why that help is needed.
Higher? Yes.
In ANY way enough to keep up with inflation and survive on? Not a chance in hell.
“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
Interesting how you, Americans, are totally incapable to see thing outside the dichotomy Reps vs Dems.
Who is in charge now? So, who is trying to create low value jobs using tariffs to force manufacturing to move back to the USA?
Not sure why your getting down voted for stating a fact. Neither Republicans nor Democrats give a rats ass about us, we are ants in their empire. Nothing but a means to stuff their coffers. Every passing year the rich get richer, the middle class continues to evaporate, and more and more people enter poverty. The wedge only gets driven deeper, it has never lifted in the last 20+ years. We’re fucked.
Democrats made a decision in the 70s to abandon “blue collar” workers and instead focus on appealing to urban professionals. They have pretty much stuck with that strategy, except in tech where they cozied up with tech capitalists and worked to drive down tech worker salaries.
So AI is writing the curriculum, AI is passing the courses, and AI is doing more and more of the work (doctors, lawyers, programmers).
Interesting
Doesn’t surprise me. I graduated 20 years ago with a 2:1 from a Russel group and it was utterly worthless then. If I could go back in time I’d never, ever go to uni again and I’d never recommend anyone do.
