[gravypod]

I've known a few college graduates who have come up in this market. From what I see, the common pattern is to try and get a position in your field for 3-10 months. Somewhere in that time range, they burn out. Then they apply for something field related for a few months. Then anything. Once they've exhausted all options they usually give up.

We will likely have a similar concept in our country as China's "lying flat" movement unless we make a big shift.

[trescenzi]

This isn’t really new. When I graduated in 2013 the barista with a college degree was a trope for a reason. Maybe 50% of my graduating CS class had a CS job within 6 months of graduating. Friends with other degrees spent years trying to find something in their field.

[majormajor]

"College grads are fully employed" certainly wasn't true in 2013 but the chart ain't that hard to read.

The news here is how much it's changed.

2011 and 2013 were the years most tilted in the other direction since 1991 (unemployment rate 2 percentage points lower among new grads than all others). Only since 2019 have new grad overall had a higher unemployment rate, and it's climbing.

One of the interesting aspects here is that bad economies generally favored new grads because the unemployment baseline was higher and employers were picky and favored "any degree" over "no degree". I wonder how much of the change is from less of a preference for "any degree but not much experience" to "experience regardless of degree" in work that doesn't exactly need a degree. And how much is from job availability shifts eating away at entry level roles combined with the ever-present "get a degree to get a good job" pro-college marketing for most of recent US history.

[trescenzi]

I was replying to the comment not necessarily the article. The _not new_ was in reference to college grads not always having an easy time. That being said looking at the cited data I don't really know if I agree with the conclusion.

https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:...

While it is new, since 1990, that recent college grads are doing worse than all workers it's not the case that the degree is no longer a buffer. If you compare Young Workers(7.5%) to Recent College Grads(5.6%), i.e. the same age range, or All Workers(4.3%) to All College Grads(3.1%) as of today there's still a buffer.

Edit: They point this out later in the piece themselves

[AnimalMuppet]

Yeah, I also wanted to question the "now" in the headline. But if you can believe the article's data, this is new - new since 2019.

[krackers]

>as China's "lying flat" movement

No, you miss that "lying flat" is only possible when cost of food/living is low and housing is abundant.

[majormajor]

I believe the closest US equivalent is to get on disability to subsidize those costs. (Especially effective in cheaper areas.)

[oivey]

Getting on disability is insanely difficult and pays jack shit. That is not a US equivalent by any measure.

[AnimalMuppet]

Even then, it's only possible when someone is willing to subsidize it, unless both food and housing are free.

[t-3]

Our lying flat is opiods. Generating dark money and killing off the useless, isn't late-stage capitalist empire great?

[khuey]

Opioid overdose in America kills the uneducated, not the college graduates who failed to launch.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10559184/#aoi230067...

[t-3]

Lying flat isn't done only by college graduates, it's a broad youth movement. Uneducated people aren't happy to work soul-destroying jobs with long hours for little pay any more than college graduates, and have less hope for escaping that situation.

[panny]

Hah, I speed ran that process when I graduated with a useless degree back in the dotcom days. I graduated and gave up any hope within 3 months. I was working at the shopping mall selling suits after that. I've since told anyone who will listen that college degrees are worthless and school loan debts are the kiss of death. Not many will listen, but I try.

[SJC_Hacker]

BA/BS in many fields and also depending on the university and social connections are worthless.

Even in STEM, post graduate is the minimum to make the degree count for anything

[nradov]

American parents on average may be less willing and financially able to support deadbeat adult children than their Chinese peers.

[b3ing]

Deadbeat adult children? That’s definitely American thinking.

That’s why I tell people family isn’t #1 in America it’s like #3 or 4

[nradov]

Nonsense. Supporting adult children after they've finished education equates to putting family last, not first. Some youths need a forcing function to reach their full potential.

[b3ing]

People in other countries don’t do this. Some live at home until they are married

[s1artibartfast]

But they probably work while doing so.

There are massive numbers of unemployed college grads in US that would rather be unemployed than take a job they see as beneath them.

[nradov]

That's one of the reasons why most of those other countries have stagnant economies.

[oivey]

Bonkers to call college graduates deadbeats. These aren’t addicts or slackers. They had to have some level of achievement their whole lives and managed to finish a degree.

[laughing_man]

It's not bonkers if they refuse to work a job that isn't in their arbitrarily chosen field.