New graduates enter job market amid economic uncertainty

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- As graduation season wraps up, many new college graduates are facing an uncertain job market shaped by economic shifts.

With changing tariffs and economists split on the likelihood of an economic downturn, recent grads are finding that landing a job isn’t as straightforward as they once expected.

“I felt like I was promised this job market where, you know, you do work and you apply between 5 and 80 jobs and you should find something,” said Helion Sampson, who graduated in 2022.

Sampson said the reality has been far more difficult.

"It's turned out to be between 200 and 300 applications before I hear back from anything," she said.

Stephen Day, an economics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said Sampson’s experience is not uncommon.

“People can't predict recessions exactly," Day said. "But there's some leading indicators that the economy is softening a bit."

A “softening” economy means that economic growth is slowing down, he explained — and hiring is not as frequent as it used to be. For new graduates, it often translates to fewer job opportunities.

“When the economy is supposed to be getting weake -- I'm sorry for the new grads, but they're the ones that don't get hired,” Day said. “It's gotten a great deal more difficult.”

Sampson said that, despite graduating three years ago, she's spent nearly two years working in the food industry while continuing to apply for jobs that aligned with her degree.

“You have to both try to do things to grow your skills at the same time as just trying to make money,” Day said.

Still, Day remains cautiously optimistic.

“The unemployment rate for new grads is close to 6% right now," he said. "The thing is, from a historical perspective, it's not bad. It's pretty good."

Day added that, despite broader economic uncertainty, fields like healthcare and energy remain in high demand. Meanwhile, he said the tech sector -- particularly companies working with artificial intelligence -- could either expand or contract, depending on how they adapt.