The White-Collar Hiring Rut Is Here. That’s Bad News for Young College Grads.

After a pandemic boom, hiring is down for jobs that require a bachelor’s degree. ‘These companies just got way, way too bloated.’

By Vanessa Fuhrmans and Ray A. Smith of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Hiring for roles that usually require a bachelor’s degree has dropped below 2019 rates in recent months"

"The drop has been steeper for 20-somethings, who are running into a bottleneck of entry-level openings as more established professionals stay put in the jobs they have"

"By historic standards, the job market for college-educated workers remains relatively strong, and unemployment is still low. Yet it feels a long way from just two summers ago, when employers were competing so fiercely for software developers, marketers and other white-collar professionals that some were hiring and hoarding talent before having work for them to do. Cash-rich and confident that a pandemic-fueled boom would continue, corporate leaders worried more at the time about labor shortages."

"Layoffs hit the tech sector in the fall of 2022 and then spread to other industries. Today, many companies are choosier than they have been in years about who they hire.

Many employers corrected for the over-hiring by laying off thousands, and big-name companies including Citi and Google cut layers of jobs with the aim of reducing middle management. Meanwhile, more companies have shifted investment to generative artificial intelligence, a technology that many fear could shrink the need for traditionally high-demand workers, such as coders, data analysts and bookkeepers."

"In a spring survey of 226 employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies said they planned to hire 6% fewer new graduates than they did last year."

"One reason is that many are trying to crack the professional job market just as the rest of the workforce is coming down from a postpandemic job-hopping spree. Millions of people switched to better-paying jobs as companies bid up for workers. Now that the job market has tightened and once-abundant offers with lofty pay have dwindled, more people are holding on to the jobs they have"

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