Study: Remote work not AI hurting recent grads' job prospects
A new study says it's remote work, not AI, that's making it tougher for recent graduates to land jobs.
Unemployment for younger college graduates under 29 jumped by 20% from the 2017-2019 pre-pandemic period to the 2022-2024 post-pandemic period, while older graduates actually saw a slight drop.
Turns out, working from home has changed the game for entry-level job seekers.
Lack of mentorship reduced entry-level hiring
Researchers found that remote roles make it harder for young employees to get mentorship and feedback: one Fortune 500 tech company noticed its software engineers got about 20% more feedback when sitting near colleagues than when distant from them.
Because of this, one company started hiring more experienced people instead. Once the company adopted a return-to-office policy, younger graduates were back in demand.
Interestingly, AI barely affected unemployment rates during this time: the real challenge was missing out on hands-on learning and support early in your career.