Employment News: Jobs Are Scarce for Some
June 15, 2026
The economic crash of 2010 was horrible for recent grads searching for work, but it might be arguable worse in 2026 says Dr. Randal S. Olson in his blog post: “New U.S. College Grads Now Have Higher Unemployment Than The Average Worker.”
According to the article, new college graduates face the highest unemployment in the workforce and it is the widest gap on record.? ? The reversal of this started in 2019 before ChatGPT and the pandemic.? ? For decades, a college degree gave someone an advantage in the job market, but not anymore.? ? That changed:
“In February 2019 the gap crossed zero, and the 12-month average has stayed positive every month since. That timing rules out both of the easy explanations. The flip predates the generative-AI boom by years, and COVID by a year. This was a slow structural drift, not a sudden shock. The Cleveland Fed traces the erosion back further still. The job-finding advantage of young grads has been fading since around 2000, and their edge over high-school workers closed around 2019. The pandemic did not cause it either, and the 2020 spike is the clearest evidence. When unemployment exploded that year, both lines shot up together, so the gap held roughly steady through 2020 and 2021. The penalty was already there. The lockdowns just buried it under a bigger number.”
Why is this happening? Economists can’t pin it down on one source.? ? Remote jobs are one reason. Companies don’t want to hire inexperienced workers as remote workers, when in the past these positions were on site and new hires could be mentored on the job.? ? Another issue is that AI is replacing low-entry jobs:
“Stanford researchers see AI’s fingerprints anyway. Their study found that early-career workers ages 22 to 25 in the most AI-exposed jobs saw employment fall about 16% since late 2022, a drop that survived even after they stripped out remote-friendly roles. Both can be true. Either way, the entry-level rungs are the ones being pulled out, and tech is the sharpest edge.”
Experience is the main defining factor here. Companies ant experienced workers who they can trust to get the job done, with or without education. Also the latest generation of new grads are from Gen Z and are facing the same criticisms that Millennials did. It’s a vicious cycle. Maybe try a trade instead of a computer science degree? Some of the big AI tech outfits (what we call BAITers at Arnold IT and Beyond Search) are suggesting special funds will be available to train people to be plumbers, iron workers, and possibly long-haul truckers. This type of work may not be idea for a person majoring in Restoration Drama or Early American History, however.
Whitney Grace, June 15, 2026
Comments
2 Responses to “Employment News: Jobs Are Scarce for Some”
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
This iss myy firxt tijme visiot att heere andd i aam genuinely impredssed
to read aall aat onee place. ofvd9wuapt3cl0husz9k
It is quite evident that a lot of careful consideration went into crafting this piece and I want to commend you for presenting such a thoughtful and clear summary for those of us trying to learn more. sex zoo anal