Jobs that new college grads are and are not landing

Summary

Podcast Summary:
The Indicator from Planet Money
Episode: Jobs that new college grads are and are not landing
Date: April 3, 2026
Hosts: Adrian Ma & Darian Woods

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the challenges and opportunities facing new college graduates entering today’s job market. With high-profile headlines about a stagnant hiring landscape, the hosts and their expert guest unpack what "low hire, low fire" means for young job seekers. They spotlight data-driven insights on which fields remain strong, which are struggling, and what strategies students are using to land that elusive first job.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Current Jobs Landscape

• Rebound in Hiring Numbers
  • March saw 178,000 new jobs added and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.3%, signaling hope for a previously sluggish labor market. (00:23)
• Stagnant Labor Market – “Low Hire, Low Fire”
  • Employers aren't firing many people, but they're not hiring much either, which disproportionately affects entry-level job seekers. (00:37)
  • Recent college grads face a 5.6% unemployment rate—higher than the national average for degree holders. (01:02, 01:18)

2. Real Experiences from Campus

• On-the-Ground Student Perspectives
  • Senior Monica Maya, majoring in chemical engineering, has applied to roughly 50 jobs in the past six months but hasn’t secured her desired position yet. (03:10-03:17)
  • Monica on her anxiety:

    "Not only is the job market getting more challenging to navigate, but prices are getting higher. ... Not having a job is dangerous." —Monica Maya (03:50)

  • Many students echo this, some applying to upwards of 100-200 roles with little success.
• Internship Struggles
  • Sanyu Lakoma, a junior in broadcast journalism, notes a general sense of anxiety among her peers. (03:32)

3. Expert Perspective: Laura Ulrich, Indeed

• Not All Fields Created Equal
  • The job market’s challenges vary widely by industry:
    • Data Science: Job postings are down 30% from pre-COVID levels. (04:36)
    • Civil Engineering: Postings up 40% from pre-COVID. Opportunity differs field-to-field.

      "I worry sometimes when we paint this blanket picture that it's tough for all new grads. I don't think that's the case, but in certain fields, it’s extremely tough right now." —Laura Ulrich (05:09)

• Which Majors Are in Demand?
  • Declines in postings: Tech fields (computer science, data science, business) see a downturn, partly due to AI uncertainty, overhiring, and market corrections. (05:23)
  • High demand: Engineering (especially civil), healthcare, and skilled trades (plumbing, electrical).
  • "Graduates in tech this year are likely to find jobs—it just might take longer and salaries may not meet previous expectations." (06:19)
• Uncertainty’s Impact
  • Broad economic and policy uncertainties (such as tariffs and AI) make employers cautious, resulting in stagnant hiring.

    "Markets hate uncertainty. ... It’s hard for business leaders to make decisions in that environment." —Laura Ulrich (06:39)

  • Those already employed face low layoff risks—unless in targeted sectors—but job seekers have it much tougher today than two years ago. (07:10)

4. Technology and Job Search Obstacles

• Bots and ‘Ghost Jobs’
  • Students worry about competing with bots in the application process and encountering "ghost jobs" (postings for non-existent jobs). (07:20)
  • Data does not show a big increase in such practices, but:

    "There are a lot more applicants per job right now ... The volume of applications is going up and companies ... have to try really hard to sort those bots and those jobs out." —Laura Ulrich (07:48)

• Application Experience
  • Companies are receiving more applications per opening and, thus, more candidates are left with no response. (07:57)

5. Advice for Fresh Graduates

• Persistence is Key

  "I think staying an active seeker is the best possible solution... Keep your head up, keep marching forward. You’re going to land that first job. It may not be the one you thought you were going to be in, but ... if you continue to work hard, the market will turn." —Laura Ulrich (08:32)

  • Networking and perseverance are emphasized. Graduates should stay prepared for when the market improves.

6. Looking Forward: Student Optimism

• Taking It Day by Day
  • Monica Maya decided to stay for a fifth year rather than graduate without a satisfactory offer. Now, with graduation nearing:

    "I'm really just taking it one day at a time, one application at a time, one LinkedIn connection at a time. ... I think it'll be good." —Monica Maya (09:32)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Not only is the job market getting more challenging to navigate, but prices are getting higher ... not having a job is dangerous." —Monica Maya (03:50)
• "I worry sometimes when we paint this blanket picture that it's tough for all new grads. I don't think that's the case, but in certain fields, it’s extremely tough right now." —Laura Ulrich (05:09)
• "There are a lot more applicants per job right now ... The volume of applications is going up." —Laura Ulrich (07:48)
• "Keep your head up, keep marching forward. ... If you continue to work hard, the market will turn." —Laura Ulrich (08:32)
• "I'm really just taking it one day at a time ... I'm very excited for the future. I think it'll be good." —Monica Maya (09:32)

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Important Timestamps

• [00:23] — Summary of March jobs report ("rebound" in labor market)
• [01:02] — Unemployment stats for new grads
• [03:10-03:50] — Howard University student experiences & anxieties
• [04:34] — Laura Ulrich on field-by-field job market
• [05:23] — Sectors with demand vs. declining sectors
• [06:39] — How uncertainty drives stagnant hiring
• [07:20-07:57] — Bots, ghost jobs, and application volume
• [08:32] — Laura Ulrich’s advice for job seekers
• [09:32] — Monica Maya’s optimism despite challenges

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Tone & Language

The episode was empathetic, data-driven, and encouraging, balancing realism about job market hurdles with optimism and actionable advice for new grads. Both student voices and expert opinions were presented candidly, offering listeners both numbers and lived experience to understand the real state of early-career employment in 2026.

Transcript

[Monica Maya]

Npr.

[Adrian Ma]

This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Adrian Ma.

[Darian Woods]

And I'm Darian Woods. And it's Jobs Friday. It's the day of the month where we look at the latest government jobs report and we spotlight trends in the labor market.

[Adrian Ma]

And today's jobs report shows a rebound. 178,000 jobs were added in March, while while the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3%, that's raising hopes that the sluggish labor market we've been seeing might be picking up.

[Darian Woods]

For months, economists have used one phrase to describe the state of the jobs market. Low hire, low fire. That means employers overall are not cutting many jobs, but they're also not adding much either.

[Adrian Ma]

Yeah, and this stagnation, the lack of workers flowing in and out of different jobs, that can be particularly tough for people at the very start of their careers. You know, the ones looking for entry level jobs.

[Darian Woods]

For example, the Federal Reserve bank of New York estimated the unemployment rate for recent college grads is 5.6%. That's people with a bachelor's degree or higher. But that stat only tells part of the story.

[Adrian Ma]

So today on the show, we dig deeper to understand what low hire, low fire means for those trying to get their first jobs. And if it applies to all of them foreign.

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[Adrian Ma]

few weeks away, we wanted to get a sense of how college students are feeling about the job market. So we paid a visit to the campus of Howard University in D.C. tell me about your job search process. How's that been going?

[Monica Maya]

Yes, yes, actually, I was having a little bit of trouble, honestly.

[Adrian Ma]

This is Monica Maya. She's a senior majoring in chemical engineering. Do you know roughly about how many jobs you've applied for?

[Monica Maya]

Well, the past semester, the past six months, I would say probably 50 jobs. And have I heard back? You know, some denials, but yeah, I haven't actually secured the position that I want yet, so I'm still looking.

[Adrian Ma]

And of course, Monica isn't unique in this. Some people apply to 100, 200 jobs before they land one, while others, like Sanyu Lakoma, are just trying to lock down an internship. Sanyu is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism, and she says her friends who are graduating soon are getting worried.

[Monica Maya]

There's definitely anxiety because not only is the job market getting more challenging to navigate, but prices are getting higher. And when we are graduating from college, our degree is great. What we studied is great, but not having a job is dangerous.

[Adrian Ma]

Now, a little or even a lot of job search anxiety is normal. But there's no denying recent and soon to be grads are facing some additional obstacles right now. To better understand those, we reached out to Laura Ulrich as a director of economic research for the job listing site. Indeed, she's got a ton of data at her fingertips on employers and job seekers. And so, given the negative recent data, I asked her to put it in context. How worried should young job seekers be?

[Laura Ulrich]

It depends.

On what?

What field these new grads are going into. You know, overall the rate has risen, but this isn't true for all people who are graduating college. Actually, my oldest son graduated college last year and is going into data science. And that is a field where it indeed we're seeing job postings are down 30% compared to pre Covid. So that's a hard field to go into. But there are many more where postings remain very elevated. So civil engineering, for example, is up about 40% compared to pre Covid. So I worry sometimes when we paint this blanket picture that it's tough for all new grads. I don't think that's the case, but in certain fields, it's extremely tough right now.

[Adrian Ma]

Well, can you go more into that? Like, what does your data show in terms of what kinds of skills or majors employers are looking for in this moment?

[Laura Ulrich]

Yeah.

So we definitely have seen a decline in tech postings. Part of it is about the uncertainty around AI. There's other things going on as well in the tech sector, including the fact that they overhired. There's a lot going on that is disrupting that market. So majors like computer science, but also data science, data analytics. Business is tougher right now, but we still see a lot of strength in, as I mentioned, engineering, but also all of the healthcare fields, and certainly also in, like, the skilled trade. So if you're coming out of community college with an associate degree in plumbing or you're ready to become an electrician, there's still a lot of opportunities in those fields. Right now, we're seeing a period of time where I would call it an adjustment phase, where people who have majored in fields like computer science in 2026, those graduates are likely to find jobs. It's just going to take longer, and they may not get the same salaries

they were expecting two years ago.

[Adrian Ma]

I mean, to just go a bit more into what is making employers reluctant to fire or hire right now, Is it just sort of like how they're figuring in AI, or is how much of the story is like uncertainty created by things like the tariff policy of the Trump administration?

[Laura Ulrich]

You know, there's a saying in economics and finance that markets hate uncertainty. And I think that is absolutely true. There's actually something called the Economic Uncertainty Index that has been at much higher levels in the past year or so than we've seen previously in this country. And what we know about uncertainty is that it's hard for business leaders to make decisions in that environment. So as an economist, I'm not surprised that we're seeing the stagnancy we're seeing in the labor market. If you have a job, the probability that you're going to be laid off from your current job is low right now, unless you're in a few targeted sectors. However, if you are unemployed, it is much more difficult to find a job in 2026 than it was a couple years ago.

[Adrian Ma]

We went to a college campus yesterday and spoke to some seniors who are on the cusp of graduating. And one of the things they mention is that they feel like they have to compete not just with other job applicants, but with, like, bots who are applying for jobs. And sometimes they come across listings that appear to be ghost jobs, which are, I guess, listings for jobs that don't actually exist. Do you have any data that gives us a sense of, like, how big of an issue this is?

[Laura Ulrich]

I will say we're not seeing big increases there. What I do think is happening is that there are a lot more applicants per job right now because there's more people looking for jobs.

Right.

And so I do think there are more people who are just not hearing back from companies. We certainly do know that there are more and more bots that are applying for people. Like the volume of applications is going up and companies like indeed have to try really hard to sort those bots and those jobs out. Right. And so there are certainly internal efforts that are far beyond what I do as an economist at the business level to try to mitigate those issues.

[Adrian Ma]

Any advice for people who are graduating soon or just trying to break into their first jobs?

[Laura Ulrich]

I think staying an active seeker is the best possible solution. While you're still trying to network and meet people and get out there, I just, you know, encourage new grads, including my own kids. Like, keep your head up, keep marching forward. You're going to land that first job. It may not be the one you thought you were going to be in, but, but I think if you continue to work hard, the market will turn. At some point it'll change and you want to be primed and ready to move up into that next job.

[Adrian Ma]

Okay. So Laura Ulrich says the market will turn around eventually. But will that change come in time for students graduating this year? Back at Howard University, senior Monica Maya told us that she could have actually graduated last year with her chemical engineering degree, but she decided to stay on a fifth year because she wasn't finding the kind of jobs she was hoping for. So I asked her how's she feeling now about her job prospects? With graduation just around the corner, are you sort of feeling optimistic or starting

[Monica Maya]

to get a little worried right now? I'm really just taking it one day at a time, one application at a time, one LinkedIn connection at a time. And I'm very excited for the future. I think it'll be good.

[Adrian Ma]

So Monica at least is keeping her head up. This episode was produced by Julia Richie and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez Cake and Canon edits the show in the indicators of production of npr.

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