Gen Z Divide: How Graduation Year Impacts Hiring Outcomes

For Gen Z, landing a job isn’t just about who you know — it’s about when you graduated.

Monica Para is one of the lucky ones. She landed a software engineering job in the fall of 2022, several months before graduating with a computer science degree from the University of Illinois. She said the salary has allowed her to travel about once a month, and she’s now planning to pursue a secondary degree at the University of Chicago.

“I’m at a position where I’m able to pay for my own Master’s without having to take any loans,” she said, “A privilege not many have.”

She’s among the cohort in her generation that kickstarted their careers in a high-demand job market. At that time, just 3.9% of recent college graduates ages 22 to 27 were unemployed — the lowest rate since February 2020.

Since then, however, the job market for recent grads has steadily worsened. As of March, the jobless rate for this group had climbed to 5.8%.

This shift, driven by a broad hiring slowdown across several industries, has left recent grads like Solomon Jones facing a much tougher job market. Jones graduated from Rowan University in May with a degree in sports communications, but he’s struggled to land a full-time role, and freelance writing gigs have provided inconsistent income.

Jones, who has about $25,000 in student debt, is living with his parents in New Jersey while he looks for work, but said he’s received “hundreds of rejection emails.” In recent months, he’s broadened his search to include various writing roles, as well as coaching and teaching positions.

“The goal is to obviously get a job in the sports industry, but realistically, I know that life isn’t fair,” said the 26-year-old. “So at this point, I’m just trying to find a job, period.”

The economy of recent years has created a divide within Gen Z, the oldest of whom are now 28. Many who graduated into the red-hot job market and low-interest rate world of 2021 and 2022 got the chance to make good progress toward the American dream and could be well on their way to HENRY — high earner, not rich yet — status. More recent graduates, by contrast, have generally had a harder time, and could spend years getting a toehold in a career — and don’t even ask them about buying a home.

How recent grads can progress in their careers in a tough job market

In 2021 and 2022, US businesses hired at the highest rates in decades. But in 2023, hiring began to slow, a shift that persists today. Amid tariff uncertainty and the early effects of AI adoption, US companies are now hiring at nearly the slowest pace since 2014.

While layoffs remain low by historical standards, Americans who don’t have a job but want one are in a much tougher spot. This has left many young college grads — new to the workforce and without roles to fall back on — especially vulnerable.

The impact of graduation timing extends beyond the job market. Some older Gen Zers were able to buy homes and lock in rock-bottom mortgage rates before borrowing costs began rising in 2022. That year, 30% of 25-year-old Gen Zers owned a home — a higher rate than millennials or Gen Xers had at the same age, according to a Redfin analysis.

But rising home prices and mortgage rates have since stalled that momentum, yet another sign that for many in the generation, timing is everything.

Still, some grads who entered the job market at an opportune moment have also faced career challenges, while others who graduated into a tougher environment have managed to find work.

While Para was able to start working post-graduation, she said the job wasn’t a good long-term fit. In March, after a roughly four-month search, she landed a data analyst position in the education field. She said she’s happy with her new job — but more than anything, she’s grateful to be employed.

“I feel good about having a role because it gives me something to look forward to every day,” said the Illinois resident. “I have friends who are younger than me, who graduated from elite universities, who still can’t get a job a year-and-a-half after graduating.”

That’s what Jahanvi Shah feared would happen to her. In the months before graduating from Cornell University in December 2023 with a master’s in engineering management, Shah said she applied to over 500 jobs and secured five interviews, but none led to a full-time offer. As an international student, this put her immigration status in jeopardy.

Because she was on an F-1 optional practical training (OPT) visa, she said she had a limited window to secure some form of employment after graduating. Otherwise, she’d have had to move back to India, where she was born and raised.

Shortly before graduating, she landed a part-time product manager role that allowed her to stay compliant with her visa. In August 2024, nearly eight months after graduation, she landed a full-time role at a company that had previously turned her down.

“It’s a great reminder that even if an opportunity doesn’t work out immediately, staying on the radar can make a difference,” said the 24-year-old, who lives in San Francisco.

Stories like Shah’s — and those of people who graduated during the Great Recession and ultimately found career success — offer hope to job seekers such as Jones. But the Gen Zer said he knows several recent grads who didn’t have the same outcome. While most eventually found work, many had to settle for roles outside their field of study.

Jones said he still hopes to find a fulfilling job that complements his degree — and makes the student debt he took on feel worthwhile — but he knows this is far from a guarantee.

“I want a job that is fulfilling — that I feel like I earned after going to college and taking on debt,” he said. “But it’s just been a struggle all around.”