While we may be stuck at home complaining about the cancellation of the rest of our senior year, prom, and graduation, the coronavirus has a much darker cost to some graduates. Many of us may have the comfort of knowing that we are going off to college in the fall despite missing the last quarter of high school, but those who are missing the last part of their senior year in college are going into the unknown.
College seniors may have had internships or jobs lined up for the summer or year, but because of the recession caused by the virus, many companies are retracting those offers. If those companies are already having to conduct mass layoffs, why would they want to hire less trained workers? The unemployment rate is at its highest rate since the Great Depression at around 13% and over 9 million people have filed for unemployment insurance. The situation is really just at its beginning. More and more companies are expected to suffer or go bankrupt in the next few months and the job market is unlikely to recover for some time.
Even when the economy does recover in the upcoming months, companies would want to hire those who had had the full college education and may look to the class of 2021 instead of those from 2020. With limited options, the class of 2020 may settle into less prestigious jobs (as seen historically) and may suffer results lasting for over a decade. Their prior work experience may look significantly less impressive than what companies want to hire from.
So in comparison, for us who are going to college, the coronavirus could have had a far bigger impact on our future if we were a college graduating class of 2020.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/business/coronavirus-class-of-2020-jobs.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/upshot/coronavirus-jobless-rate-great-depression.html
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/46/75/c7/4675c725e26407ab4881ffe66e580c0d.jpg
My sister is a college senior, and I have definitely heard about this. Her summer job was cancelled, and so were all her interviews, with the places she was interviewing at no longer hiring. She feels really stuck, with no summer, no job, and no clear future. It's really awful, and I hope companies will still consider the class of 2020 when they start hiring again.
ReplyDeleteI have friends who are college seniors and they are saying the same. A lot of my coworkers are currently jobless because our work is not considered essential, so they are having problems paying rent for the month. It's a really tough situation to be in. I hope this recession ends soon.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent point. The pandemic is not just affecting those who are getting sick. Current job holders as well as 2020 graduates are at risk of unemployment. Not knowing what the future holds is unsettling for all of us. Perhaps the closing of some companies will make way for new technologies. Maybe the class of 2020 will have the opportunity to work on solutions to mankind’s current challenges.
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