Pandemic wrecks global Class of 2020’s hopes for first job | World

“Remote jobs are great for someone who doesn’t have to commute and already has a job,” he said. But “for someone entering the job market it is a scary prospect. It’s difficult to learn technical skills when you’re in a remote setting.”

Noah Isaak, a 2019 grad and newly certified teacher, has been applying for jobs in the Chicago public school system and has done a few interviews but they didn’t lead anywhere. Most of the people he knows from his program are having trouble, too.

Now he’s considering applying for minimum wage jobs at Target, Costco, coffee shops and Amazon.

“I’m stressed,” said Isaak, 23. “Nothing is really going how we expected it to go. It’s comforting that it’s not a personal flaw and other people are going through the same struggle. But it is difficult not knowing.”

One important long-term effect for young graduates who take longer to find good first jobs is lower pay over the course of their careers, experts said.

Someone who takes a year or more to find their first job lags behind their peers when it comes to promotions and also competes with younger people who come on to the job market later.

The problem, like the pandemic, is global.

Graduate job vacancies for July are down from the previous year in 10 countries, according to Adzuna, a job postings search engine. Britain, India and the Netherlands have seen the biggest declines, with postings down by more than half from a year ago, but other countries including Austria, Australia, Brazil, and France are also seeing double digit percentage drops.