Job Market Issues: College Grads

 Job Market Issues: College Grads

A college degree has long been one of the most reliable guards against unemployment. That shield may be breaking, a new Goldman Sachs analysis argues.

The unemployment rate for workers with a bachelor's degree or higher climbed to 2.8% in December, up from 2.6% a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While still below the national unemployment rate of 4.4%, college-educated workers are facing an increasingly unfavorable labor market compared with other groups.

From 2023 to 2025, industries that employ the largest shares of college graduates, including information services, finance, and professional and business services, shed an average of 9,000 jobs per month, according to the analysis by Goldman Sachs economist Jessica Rindels. Before the pandemic, those same industries added 44,000 jobs per month.

A strong labor market and fast-paced hiring in 2021 to 2022 led to low unemployment rates—particularly in fields that mainly hire college graduates. However, in recent years, hiring has stalled, with employers halting hiring or firing workers, essentially locking many college graduates, and especially young college graduates, out of the labor market.

Source: Goldman Sachs

Factors that have Created this Whacky Job Market - Q1 2026 - Layoffs / Company Restructuring / Overhiring from 2020-2022

 Factors that have Created this Whacky Job Market - Q1 2026 - Layoffs / Company Restructuring / Overhiring from 2020-2022

Following a period of aggressive hiring during and immediately after the pandemic, couple with artificial intelligence (AI) penetration into daily job functions, many companies have adopted a cautious strategy to hiring, leading to longer interview cycles and fewer openings for roles.  In addition, layoffs in sectors like tech and logistics have contributed to a fear-driven market, lengthening hiring cycles and creating log jams in many companies, creating "job hugging" and lack of movement. 

Job Market News - Job Growth - Jan 2026

 Job Market News - Job Growth - Jan 2026

• The U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs in January, marking its strongest growth in over a year and exceeding analyst expectations.  Job growth in January was concentrated in healthcare and social assistance, while other sectors like transportation and government cut jobs.

• Important to note that job growth in January is always strong due to calendar year budgets kicking in January 1st, allowing companies that are fiscally responsible to fill jobs.  The job market actually, in my opinion, under performed due to social and geopolitical factors (Minnesota; Venezuela; Iran respectfully), all of which affect the job market (do not dismiss my last statement - factors that affect national security, societal insecurities, environmental issues, tragic current events all have ramifications in the job market - most negative and result in either / or longer hiring cycles / slow growth / company pullbacks on spending.  

More about issues that affect the job market in my future posts this week.

Reverse Recruiting

 Reverse Recruiting

**Please note that I am not an advocate of this method but it is part of the marketplace so I want to make job seekers away of the model, which is the opposite of the traditional model of retained / contingency recruiting**

Through good economic times and bad, recruiters have usually operated the other way around: Companies pay them to find talent for tough-to-fill positions. Now, though, job seekers are hiring a new crop of what are called reverse recruiters to help them crack a competitive market.

Jane Doe, 36 years old, signed up for reverse-recruiting service Refer last year after receiving an email pitch from the company. Refer’s AI agent connected her with an executive at Golden, a volunteer-management company, which was looking for a platform engineer and data scientist. Doe got the offer after several interviews. She then paid Refer 20% of his first month’s pay once it landed in his bank account.

It was “refreshing,” she said, not to be lost in a sea of candidates sorted by an applicant-tracking system (ATS).

The reverse-recruiting model is another sign of the mounting challenges for white-collar job seekers. For the first time since the pandemic, there were more unemployed people than open roles as of late 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average job search is now approaching about six months, according to December federal data.

Reverse-recruiter models vary, but many require job seekers to pay them part of their salary once they accept a job. Others charge a set rate to submit applications on a candidate’s behalf. Such services typically go beyond career coaching or résumé reviews, and sometimes involve the recruiter applying on behalf of the candidate.

Source: WSJ.com

Job Hugging:

 Job Hugging:

Elaborating on my earlier post, the country is going through a period of "lower quit rates", which is defined as employed workers are hesitant to leave their jobs, reflecting a lack of confidence in finding new employment. The job market as not been fluid and will continue to be this way until legal immigration rebounds, tariff scares stabilize and the demand for products and services increase.

Factors That Have Made the Job Market More Difficult in 2026 (Job Hugging):

 Factors That Have Made the Job Market More Difficult in 2026 (Over Hiring):

Workers aren’t leaving the jobs they have (this is recognized as "job hugging". The number of jobs people quit in December came to 3.2M, the Labor Department reported Thursday, well below the 4.5M hit in March 2022, when postpandemic hiring was in full swing. The quits rate, which measures quits as a share of employment, was 2%, well short of the 2.3% it averaged in 2019, before the pandemic.

All is relevant because the bulk of hiring in any given month is replacing people who have left. The low level of quits is probably driven by workers’ sense that the labor market is fragile and that available opportunities are in short supply.

Source: WSJ

ATS Format - Stay Away from Graphics!

  ATS Format - Stay Away from Graphics!

As much as everyone loves graphs, elegant fonts, pictures and colors, most ATS systems use Optical Character Recognition (OCR), to parse resume data, and if you are using a fancy font or design on your resume, chances are the ATS will may not be able to read the key words / most important content.

An Alternative to ATS

 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/changing-way-candidates-apply-jobs-allan-brown-ctidc/

2026 Job Market

 To those who have been laid off recently.

We are experiencing a whacky job market. Despite the fact that we are not in a recession, there are fewer jobs posted and increased competition for few roles. The hiring cycle is much longer that in recent times and the process is more impersonal, accentuated by the use of AI tools.

In short, the best strategy for Q12026 is NOT the time to step away, detox and assume a comparable job at the same pay is “out there waiting.” The job boards are the equivalent of a "black hole". The best jobs are not published "The Hidden Job Market". Hiring managers are not messing around reading dozens of resumes. People are getting jobs through networking. You will do but you must embrace the new norm. NETWORK! NETWORK! NETWORK!

Today's Quote - Steve Jobs

 Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it." 

- Steve Jobs, entrepreneur

Bad Advice: More ATS (Location)

  Bad Advice: More ATS (Location)

ATS - Location

Your buddy told you that you do not need to include your city, state and zip code on your resume.

DON'T LISTEN TO YOUR BUDDY!

Employers want employees at their desks, in their offices and not remote. This is a debate for a different time. However, as related to ATS:

You must add your location by city, state, and zip code (not home address) with your contact information at the top of the first page (please, do not protect in a header - many ATS programs are blocked by the header (and footer). 

Many ATS programs will scan zip codes (not the "city" or "state" to ensure candidates live close to the job they are applying.