Last university graduates have difficulty finding jobs: NPR

Azraiel Raines dreamed of working for the Foreign Ministry when she graduated from Idaho State University with a degree in global studies.

But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not hire. In fact, it has reduced more than 1,300 jobs in the context of a more comprehensive downsizing from the government last week.

Azraiel Raines completed the Idaho State University with a degree in global studies. She had hoped to work for the Foreign Ministry, but instead took on a job with her Alma Mater.

Azraiel Raines

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Azraiel Raines

“My very first street was post, gone,” says Raines.

When the conclusion approached, she interviewed law firms, but never got a call back. Applications for school district jobs were also empty.

“I panicked,” says Raines. “What do I do if I don't have a job after graduation?”

Finally, she landed a position in the consulting department in her Alma Mater in Pocatello, Idaho, where she monitors public relations.

“I didn't imagine that,” says Raines. “But it used my skills in a way that I didn't think I could be able to do, and the people there were really great, so it helped a lot.”

Economists say that Raines is not only among the youngest university graduates to find work. Although the general unemployment rate is only 4.1%, today only a few people cancel jobs, and employers are apparently over the hiring.

This means that there are fewer opportunities for newly shaped graduates to get one foot in the door.

“The labor market for the latest university graduates in 2025 is one of the most difficult in the last decade, apart from the pandemic period,” says Jaison Abel, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

It is not just the federal government that shorten the jobs

In addition to the work cuts through the federal government, technology companies and consulting companies scale back after a period of rapid growth. Overall, employers were careful in view of the uncertain trade and tax policy when it comes to that.

“What happens, basically at a time when it is uncertainty, it is that companies tend to keep themselves stable, wait and see,” says Abel. “So the attitude really slowed down.”

Some employers may also use artificial intelligence to carry out tasks that started the starters earlier, although Abel suspects that this is still quite unusual.

“It is unlikely that this is really the main driver of these trends, for the most part, because the introduction of AI has been quite limited so far,” he says.

Deduction with lower payment

Many graduates who find work – including Raines – had to be satisfied with lower salaries than they hoped. A survey by the job search company Ziprecruiter resulted in an overlying gap between the seniors of the Salor College they had hoped for, and the salary checks that they actually found as soon as they ended the school.

“I think it means that the competition is violent. The market is tight. And employers are more careful,” says Sam Demase, career expert from Ziprcruiter. “I think it's an employer market at the moment.”

This is a handling compared to last autumn, when many companies wanted to increase their recruitment among university graduates, according to the National Association of Colleges and employers. When NACE carried out a follow-up survey this spring, the setting plans were attributed to what they were in 2024.

Nicole Hall, who is the chair of NACE and Dean of the Students at the University of Virginia, means that graduates must be more flexible when looking for work.

“Since the market is clearly challenging, the students have very openly think about how they can use their skills,” says Hall.

Although the general unemployment rate is only 4.1%, many people stay in their workplaces and employers are careful when setting.

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She emphasizes that the first job of a graduate outside of school is not what you hoped for, it can be an important springboard.

“As long as you get involved with this experience and later leave you with greater skills and knowledge, it will serve you well,” says Hall.

Investigations by Abel and his colleague of New York Fed Richard Deitz have found that many graduates, although they have to be satisfied with less challenging work outside of school, find most of them within a few years.

“It is probably not best to assess the value of a university degree immediately after graduation,” says Deitz, “but to consider it an investment that they bring with advantages of their entire working life.”

While the unemployment rate among the youngest graduates is now higher than in previous years – almost 6% this spring – it is lower in young people who have no university degree than the unemployment rate. That is almost 7%.

Raines will be happy with her job at Idaho State University for the time being. During work, she hopes to use the school's discount on a master's degree in public administration, only in the event that a job will be opened in the Foreign Ministry one day.

“I don't want to give it up yet,” she says. “But we're going to make a small detour.”