Throughout his college studies, Ryan Kim always had a postgraduation game plan.
First it was to become a database manager.
Then it was to break into fintech as a business analyst.
So he set his eyes on a new career: public service.
Kim was far from the onlyGen Zermaking the same pivot.
Even younger kids saw the writing on the wall.
Silicon Valley was out.
Capitol Hill was in.
It took Kim only a single program to land a yearlong paid internship at the Food and Drug Administration.
“Government jobs are secure.
What drew me into it was the stability.”
So much for that plan.
With most federal hiring on an indefinite hold, he’s been scrambling to find a job any job.
“It’s been a huge source of stress,” he says.
“Most of the private industry has already hired their graduating students.”
But now, as Musk takes a chainsaw to the government, many college seniors are in panic mode.
“There is this sense of grief, of loss of opportunity.
This is the first year I’m actually concerned.”
“Now it feels uncertain in a lot of areas.”
“I have bills to pay,” she says.
It’s a sentiment I hear over and over again from the students I speak with.
I’m impressed by the clear-eyed pragmatism of these students but I’m also saddened by howoldthey sound.
When I graduated from college in 2009 without a full-time job, I was panicked but still idealistic.
These kids, in contrast, seem hardened by all the chaos they’ve endured from a young age.
In high school, they watched their parents get laid off in the pandemic.
The upheaval and uncertainty have taught today’s graduates to prepare for the worst.
The hustle paid off with three offers, including one she accepted from a government contractor.
(That’s why she asked me not to use her name.)
“I give a shot to keep an optimistic outlook,” she tells me.
“It makes me pretty nervous,” she says.
During hard economic times, we expect to hear stories about people losing their jobs.
And research shows just how long a shadow that can cast on someone’s career.
The effects go far beyond money.
Even more shocking, the research shows, they were more likely to die early.
Many companies have already filled their entry-level positions, if they’re hiring new grads at all.
As graduation nears, he’s trying not to panic.
“I’m not sure how my future’s going to turn out,” Kim tells me.
And that, when you think about it, is a future that should worry us all.
Aki Itois a chief correspondent for Business Insider.
