Four years ago today, on Friday, March 13th, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.
If COVID-19 were 18 in 2020, it would be 22 and graduating from a four-year institution this year.
What kind of world would they be graduating into?
I asked friends on Instagram: What has greatly changed in the US in the last four years?
Increase in anxiety/depression
Not our presidential options 😭
The public’s trust in the gov
EVERYTHING Education - the entire landscape is being rethought of
People aren’t going to work or social events when they’re sick (usually)
Families destroyed due to political differences, friendships as well
Literally everything
To me, the jury's still out on people staying home when sick, as I sat next to a person unabashedly coughing up a storm at a cafe this week, but the last sentiment remains true—literally everything.
In honor of college being an integral part of the American Dream, let’s see what kind of world COVID-19 would be graduating into in 2024.
Is this 2024 college graduate ready to get to work?
A new survey says, No.
A survey conducted by a resource that curates research on college and workplace issues spoke to 800 employers and found that Gen Z lacks job-readiness skills.
Some key findings:
38% of employers avoid hiring recent college graduates in favor of older employees.
1 in 5 employers have had a recent college graduate bring a parent to a job interview
58% say recent college graduates are unprepared for the workforce
Nearly half of employers have had to fire a recent college graduate
Now, as a peak millennial who entered the workforce at a time when we were considered "lazy," I know a lot of this comes from the change in norms. You can’t blame Gen Z for being a little behind by these standards when they had to close the chapter of their high school career and begin their college one on Zoom. Perhaps we just give this new generation feedback without judgment and see what great shifts they bring to the workforce.
Can they be a digital nomad?
Kinda.
In the US, the future of work is hybrid, according to a 2023 Gallup poll.
In 2019, 60% of remote-capable employees spent their week working fully on-site, whereas that figure has fallen to just 20% in 2023. In contrast, only 8% worked exclusively remotely in 2019, compared with the 29% of remote-capable employees who are fully remote today. At the same time, hybrid work has increased significantly, en route to becoming the most prevalent work arrangement in most offices.
However, remote job boards such as remotely and weworkremotely are still showing plenty of companies hiring 100% remotely. If you’re lucky to snag one of those, maybe you can take that nomad life further and go to one of the 49 regions around the world that offer a digital nomad visa. Just make sure you pay those taxes!
Does this 2024 college graduate want to move to a big city with their best friend?
They better be prepared with a full-time job offer or plenty of savings.
Here are the average rent prices for a 2-bedroom in these 5 US cities:
New York: $4640
San Francisco: $3890
Boston: $3540
Miami: $3500
Chicago: $2730
Is this graduate a woman?
With the decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, this college graduate may have to think a bit more carefully about what sort of access to healthcare they might need.
In 2020, I was working for a live journalism event that didn’t happen due to the pandemic, where we were going to showcase a woman who was jailed in El Salvador due to her miscarriage. Well, that happened to Brittany Watts in Ohio in 2023. Fortunately, a grand jury decided not to indict her this past January.
States where bans on abortion and gender-affirming care are present are seeing a decrease in doctors, which has created issues of around access and quality of care.
Is this college student transgender?
Gender-affirming healthcare is under attack.
In response, many states have instituted “shield” laws to protect them, but it’s a slow start.
Are they ready to learn how to cook to save money?
Well, that may not be true in 2024.
I remember in the thick of the pandemic, when we wore gloves to go grocery shopping, we would shop for three weeks, for two people, and spend a bit over $200. This week, I went to buy food for one week for two people and spent $150. Inflation hit a 40-year high in 2022 and has since cooled down, but Americans aren’t seeing that in their bank accounts. Some say it’s corporate greed; including President Biden who addressed it in his State of the Union address.
What has changed in 2024? Literally everything.
I was inspired to look into this by it being the four year anniversary of COVID-19, but also by my brother Joe who is one of these pandemic graduates. I wanted to better understand him, the world he’s graduating into, and how I can support him in this next step of life.
If you’re a parent, sibling, manager, or friend of a Gen Z 2024 graduate, let’s try and give them some grace. I hope this will help inform how we can support this next generation, even if we millennials, according to The New York Times, are still trying to catch up.
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Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think in comments or via email. Open to topic ideas and feedback.
¡Hasta la próxima!
With age comes, hopefully, a bit of wisdom, experience and perspective over the long haul. What has changed in the last 4 years? I would argue that the Public Trust in Government or lack thereof goes back way further than 4 years. I remember the summer I watched the Watergate Hearings on TV, in 1973. I was 20, in college and probably the first time I truly questioned the honesty of government officials. Of course my parents could point to a distrust in government that goes back further and so it goes for past generations.
The 2020's is just the newest version in Do You Trust the Government programming .
Families destroyed and friendships lost due to political differences. In my youth, it was the Vietnam War that set family gatherings into their own war. This was so true for my extended family when we'd get together for the holidays, birthdays, and other get togethers during the escalation and height of the Vietnam War. A major difference from today is that these conflicts were kept somewhat private, basically known only to those involved. Today, people take to social media to expose their family conflicts, making them common knowledge.
The Civil Rights movement on the heals of the Kennedy assignation, also became a huge battleground in families--a story for another day,