Right now, students across the country are finishing final exams, packing up apartments, and picking up their caps and gowns. Soon, they’ll walk across the commencement stage, their last act as college students before they face the next great unknown: finding their place in the working world.
Graduation always brings a little flailing and doubt, but this year the uncertainty feels sharper. The economy is wobbling, political turbulence is growing, and the career ladders earlier generations once climbed now look more rickety than ever.
When the class of 2025 first arrived on campuses in 2021, the world was still reeling from the pandemic, but the economy was roaring back faster than many had predicted. The U.S. unemployment rate had fallen from nearly 15% at the height of the COVID shutdowns to just 6% by spring 2021, and dipped below 5% by the end of the year. Tech jobs were booming, startups were flush with funding, and companies were desperate for workers. Even humanities majors faced a job market that, for once, felt open and forgiving.
Four years later, the landscape looks much harsher. More than 400,000 federal employees have been furloughed or laid off this spring amid prolonged budget fights. Corporate layoffs, driven partly by companies “rightsizing” in an AI-dominated economy, have hit sectors from tech to finance. Even the gig economy — once a fallback for many young workers — is showing signs of strain, with food delivery orders slowing and inflation making app-based services feel more like luxuries than essentials. For new graduates, the job market no longer feels open, but more like a maze that keeps reconfiguring itself.
At Virginia Commonwealth University, a large public institution with one of the most diverse student bodies in the country, many students balance coursework and jobs as they work toward their degrees.
Gabe Hoekman is one of them. Now 22, he grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, imagining a future where he could help people directly. When he first arrived at VCU, he started studying criminal justice — but quickly realized he wanted a different kind of impact. He switched his major to social work, aiming for a career that felt focused on people over profit. This spring, he’ll graduate with his bachelor’s degree and step into a field that, despite its challenges, still feels deeply aligned with the values he’s carried since childhood.
“One of my biggest concerns was having a job secured by graduation,” Hoekman said. He was acutely aware of how competitive the job market had become. “The job market is crowded because of layoffs, making it more difficult for grads who have a lack of direct experience.”
VCU’s social work program requires students to complete 400 hours of field placement. Hoekman interned at Catholic Charities, working alongside case managers and handling a caseload himself — real-world experience that proved invaluable. Before his internship, he hadn’t seriously considered working with people experiencing homelessness, but the work resonated with him. After proactively applying for an opening, he secured a full-time job at the same organization, working with people between the ages of 18 and 24 in precarious living situations.
Still, stability feels delicate. Hoekman worries about funding cuts to public services — a fear that hit close to home when his branch of Catholic Charities had to abruptly shut down its refugee resettlement program after a wave of federal funding cuts.
But Hoekman remains hopeful. He started his full-time job on April 28 and plans to move into his own apartment later this summer. The salary isn’t huge — entry-level social work rarely is, he notes — but it’s enough to cover rent, build independence, and take the first real steps toward the future he’s been imagining for years.
For Mal Chowdhury, 21, who is graduating from VCU with a degree in English, the uncertainty runs deeper. She started college planning to pursue pre-med, but after struggling through a brutal Chem 101 class, she pivoted toward the subject she truly loved. Now, as she steps into a turbulent job market, she’s trying to stay open to whatever opportunities arise.
“Being as flexible as I can be is what I have,” Chowdhury said. Instead of chasing a single perfect job, she’s pursuing contract work and tutoring gigs — anything that keeps her moving forward. “I really don’t know what I’m up against when I submit applications,” she said. Adding to the stress is the fact that many employers are using AI to screen resumes, which can make it even more challenging to know what it takes to to stand out.
Read more: Gen X was supposed to be peaking. Instead their careers and finances are tanking
Through her work tutoring international students at VCU’s English Language Program, Chowdhury has seen firsthand how political fear is reshaping young people’s choices. “VCU recently sent out an email to international students stating they should carry around their documents with them at all times,” she said. “ICE has been seen on campus. The students I work with are so concerned with the status of their visas that they have to cancel our tutoring appointments.”
The erosion of public trust in institutions has created ripple effects across many traditional career paths as well. Chowdhury noted that whenever she tells people she’s an English major, someone inevitably suggests she go into library sciences — but even that path feels dicey now. Earlier this spring, the Trump administration announced plans to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the federal agency that channels more than $200 million a year into libraries across the country. Without that funding, many local systems could face steep cutbacks or closures.
At the University of South Carolina, a flagship public university where thousands of students pursue degrees across a wide range of fields, Ian Petty, 21, is one of many graduates preparing to continue his education rather than jumping straight into the job market.
Petty, who also majored in English, said that after a turbulent high school experience and a pandemic-era rediscovery of his love for literature, he found a home — and a sense of belonging — in South Carolina’s English department. This spring, he’s graduating and stepping directly into the university’s master’s program in English and American literature, with hopes of eventually teaching at the college level. Still, he knows the road ahead won’t be easy.
“I really haven’t heard many promising things about the job market,” Petty said. “Especially for someone who wants to be a professor. It’s something where you have to work incredibly hard — and maybe also get very lucky.”
He’s realistic about the challenges: shrinking funding for universities, a broader cultural backlash against academia, and an economy that makes traditional milestones harder to reach. “Universities are getting their funding stripped,” he said. “It’s frightening to see. I think a lot of people are afraid of academia, scholarship, and thinking deeply.”
Many of his peers, Petty said, aren’t stepping into full-time jobs right away, but taking stopgap work, moving back home, or trying to piece together temporary gigs. The old promises about education and career have frayed. Even so, he stays optimistic. “A lot of people I know are willing to be adventurous in their own lives,” he said. “They’re willing to step outside their comfort zones and bet on themselves a little. That spirit makes me feel better about everyone.”
Reagan Owensby, 21, is earning her degree in business management and entrepreneurship through an online program at Liberty University — a choice that’s allowed her to work full-time while studying at her own pace, part of a growing trend toward nontraditional college paths.
Born outside Memphis, Tennessee, as the second oldest of seven siblings, Owensby always knew she wanted to build something of her own. After high school, she began nannying and launching small side businesses, including a jewelry venture, custom-fitting welded bracelets and anklets. “Doing school online let me keep that momentum going,” she said. “I love learning how to manage a business while actually doing it at the same time.”
That practical, self-driven mindset feels essential now. Owensby has watched how fast trends rise and fall on social media, and how inflation makes the cost of inventory and supplies a constant challenge. “You expect to pivot,” she said. “You can’t put all your eggs in one basket anymore.”
Owensby knows the economy is turbulent, but believes her generation’s resourcefulness will win out. “I truly believe there’s a lot of people thinking outside the box and working really hard,” she said. “It’s not going to be perfect — but I know I can do this, because I’ve already done hard things.”
The post New college grads are entering a workforce shaped by chaos. Here’s how they’re preparing appeared first on Quartz.
