NEW YORK CITY - With graduation season taking place in the U.S. at the moment, the class of 2024 is heading into the workforce with a large sum of college seniors this year seeking the security of a government job, rather than applying to once popular and risky-seeming tech jobs, a new report by Axios shows.
Following years of turmoil that warped seminal events of their young lives, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and now the Israel-Hamas demonstrations in campuses across the country, "the bummer generation", as this graduating class is now known, seemingly just wants stability and a comfortable income.
In fact, job security, work/life balance, and the ability to live near family and friends are the top considerations for the class of 2024, according to an opinion survey and job applications data by Handshake, a campus recruitment website.
"76% of this class says that stability is the #1 factor they'll be considering," Christine Cruzvergara, Handshake's chief education strategy officer told Axios.
Because of this, 7.4% of applications submitted via the website from this year's graduating class were for government roles, up from 5.5% last year. Among these, the IRS and the Department of Health and Human Services were particularly popular among applicants.
Conversely, 21% of applications were for tech jobs, down from 23% last year.
After "stability," the top factor influencing this year's graduates was location, as cited by 75% of students polled by Handshake.
New York City emerged as the most popular destination for applicants, attracting 9.1% of total applicants— up from 8% last year.
By comparison, Washington D.C. took the second spot, with 3% of applicants looking for jobs there. Meanwhile, Texas City, Texas (0.4%); Salt Lake City, Utah (0.8%); Boise, Idaho (0.3%); Virginia Beach, Va. (0.3%) and Scottsdale, Ariz. (0.3%), completed the top 7 of largest gains in applicants this year.
On the other hand, Dallas saw the biggest decline in applicants with 3%, a figure that concurs with the decline of tech applicants for the class of 2024. Seattle (1.6%), Houston, (2.1%), Denver (1.4%) and Atlanta (3%) completed the rest of the top 5.
When it comes to the economy— a topic of major focus ahead of the 2024 election season— 58% of graduates say the current economic news makes them feel "somewhat" or "very" pessimistic, up from 46% last year.
Similarly 37% worry about paying off their student loans. Because of this, 22% are looking for an employer that offers student loan repayment benefits— something that only 7% of employers offer, according to Handshake.
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