Young and unemployed? Remote work, not AI, may be the problem, study finds
Summary
A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that remote work has made companies less likely to hire young, less experienced workers, causing higher unemployment for recent college graduates. The study shows that the rise in youth unemployment is linked to remote work, not advances in artificial intelligence.Key Facts
- Remote work jobs (like software development) saw a 1% rise in unemployment for college grads under 29 from 2017-2019 to 2022-2024.
- Older workers in remote jobs experienced a slight drop in unemployment during the same period.
- In jobs that must be done in person (like nursing), unemployment rates between younger and older grads stayed about the same.
- The study found companies hesitate to hire new graduates remotely because it’s harder to train and mentor them outside the office.
- Remote work is responsible for almost two-thirds of the increase in young graduates’ unemployment since the pandemic.
- The rise in youth unemployment started before AI tools like ChatGPT appeared, and AI has little effect on this trend.
- A large tech company’s hiring patterns matched the study’s findings: fewer young hires when working remotely, more after offices reopened.
- Unemployment for college grads under 29 rose to 3.7%, with ages 22-27 reaching 5.8% in 2024, the highest outside the pandemic since 2012.
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