The class of 2025 is celebrating graduation season — but the reality of finding a job is particularly grim right now thanks to market uncertainty under President Donald Trump, the rise of artificial intelligence killing entry-level jobs and the unemployment rate for recent grads at its highest level since 2021.
Jenna, 23, felt thrilled to receive a job offer from the federal government in January.
But by March, the offer was put on hold because of the ongoing hiring freeze for federal civilian employees led by Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts.
“It's been quite disorienting,” she told The Independent. “I don’t think anybody saw this coming.”
Jenna, who asked to be identified by just her first name, graduated from the University of Virginia last week with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in data science and is now awaiting a full-time gig.
The New York Federal Reserve reported last month that the recent college grad unemployment rate jumped to 5.8 percent during the first quarter of 2025, compared to 4.5 percent this time last year. The underemployment rate also rose to 41.2 percent compared to 40.6 percent in 2024.
College majors with the highest percentages of underemployment were anthropology, physics, computer engineering, commercial art and graphic design, fine arts and sociology.
So far, Jenna has applied to roughly 100 other roles but the competition in the data science field is fierce and she is struggling to stand out to AI models sifting through resumes.
“I have no idea what this AI is trained to look for,” she said. “I have no idea what the buzzwords are. I don't know what the algorithm is… So I just feel like it's even more of a crap shoot.”
Compounding the matter is her fear of AI taking over the work she wanted to do.
“What actually can I do as a human who’s a recent graduate that some robot isn’t going to take over?” she asked.
The worry is valid: the unemployment rate in the tech sector has risen to 5.7 percent this year, as billions are being spent to implement AI across the industry. Routine, mundane tasks usually given to new grads, such as reporting and clerical administration, have now been replaced by AI.
The World Economic Forum estimates AI will generate 170 million jobs. However, the growth is expected to be offset by the displacement of roughly 92 million jobs, resulting in a net growth of 78 million jobs.
Jesse Zmick, 34, is set to graduate with a master’s degree in cybersecurity this summer from Old Dominion University. In his case, he said he’s more concerned about the current job market than emerging technology.
He currently works on the University of Virginia’s systems administration and cybersecurity team but is learning how to navigate AI models to be more competitive in future roles.
He’s noticed his peers are having a tough time in their job hunts due to economic conditions and a percentage of entry-level roles becoming automated.
“If I were looking at entry-level roles right now, I’d be more worried but that’s probably as much of just the economic situation and the fact that tech companies are generally cutting back at the moment,” he said, noting the sector is correcting itself from overhiring during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jenna’s plan for her future is reminiscent of the millennials who graduated during the 2008 recession: she’s trying to get extra certifications to impress recruiters, she plans to move back home to northern Virginia once her college job finishes at the end of summer, and her back-up plan is graduate school, perhaps overseas.
“I don’t have the experience or the credentials, like, say, a master’s degree in data science to get some of these positions that some people seem to want,” she said.
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