As the present job market continues to shift, 2025 school graduates specific each optimism and concern about their job prospects, in accordance with Monster’s annual State of the Graduate Report.
Most graduates (83%) mentioned they had been assured about touchdown a task quickly after commencement, though 37% mentioned the job hunt may take 4-6 months.
“The job market is quickly shifting, and at present’s graduates are coming into it with each confidence and conviction,” Scott Blumsack, CMO of CareerBuilder + Monster, mentioned within the report.
“The message is evident: at present’s graduates are bold, intentional, and values-driven,” Blumsack mentioned. “Employers who adapt to those priorities by providing flexibility, objective, and pathways to development will likely be greatest positioned to draw and retain the following technology of prime expertise.”
In a ballot of 1,000 new and upcoming school graduates, 75% mentioned they’re anxious their job prospects will likely be affected by the economic system, up from 69% in 2024.
As well as, 48% of graduates mentioned they assume they received’t be capable to discover a job on the office they like, as in contrast with 52% in 2024.
Attributable to present market circumstances, 42% of graduates who don’t have already got a full-time job mentioned they’re now taking a look at extra firms and industries, a rise from 34% in 2024.
Graduates pointed to a number of purple flags that might stop them from making use of for a job at an organization, together with a wage freeze, current layoffs, decrease than common earnings through the previous yr, a mandate for each day in-office work and absolutely distant work.
On the identical time, graduates reported combined ideas in regards to the economic system and the way it might influence their beginning wage. About 37% count on their beginning wage to be increased on account of the economic system, whereas 27% count on their beginning wage to be decrease.
Job safety additionally seems to be a significant precedence, with 80% reporting issues about job safety within the present market, as in contrast with 77% in 2024. About 64% mentioned it’ll be harder to discover a job attributable to synthetic intelligence filling roles beforehand held by people, up from 62% in 2024.
In December 2024, hiring, job openings and turnover decreased, with hiring reaching its lowest point in five years, in accordance with a BambooHR report. Hiring declined throughout all industries, each within the U.S. and worldwide, the report discovered.
For now, the labor market has cooled off, which might be excellent news for hiring managers, main economists informed HR Dive. Though prime expertise could also be considerably simpler to seek out and retain, an growing older workforce and modifications to immigration will probably problem recruiters all through 2025, they mentioned.
