The Bright Side of Graduating in 2021

If you’re a high school or college senior in the Class of 2021, chances are the pandemic upended your last two years of school. You struggled with the isolation of online learning, the disappointment of cancelled proms and sports games, and the fear that graduating in a recession could jeopardize your career prospects for years.

But here are five reasons to be hopeful. 

1. Hiring is accelerating

The Class of 2020 graduated into the deepest recession since the Great Depression. But the Class of 2021 is set to graduate into the most rapid economic recovery ever. The economy added 233K jobs in January, 468K in February, and 916K in March, according to the March jobs report. Many economists predict that hiring could accelerate even further this summer as vaccinations become more widely accessible and more industries are able to reopen fully. There is even reason to expect a post-pandemic boom

2. Employers are fiercely competing for workers 

Most recessions are characterized by shrinking employer demand for workers. Jobs become relatively scarce, and unemployed job seekers relatively numerous, so employers gain leverage. That allows them to increase skills requirements, reduce salary offers, and be less flexible. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has been different in that it has also been a major shock to the availability of workers. Concerns about workplace safety, school closures, and limited public transportation have kept millions of Americans from working, or even searching for work, during the pandemic. And as a result, many businesses are now struggling to fill vacancies as demand for their goods and services recovers. The good news for entry-level job seekers is that employers are not adding new layers of requirements, the way they did during the Great Recession, and they are not cutting wages. If anything, they are relaxing requirements and offering greater flexibility to appeal to a wider talent pool. 

3. There is a premium on tech-savvy workers

The pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of everything from shopping and ordering restaurant meals to exercising and going to school. Companies have been forced to adopt new technologies, create or improve their websites, expand their presence on social media, and migrate ever more assets to the cloud. And that means employers need tech-savvy employees—the kinds who just intuitively get Instagram, TikTok, podcasts, and Zoom. For all its woes, a year of online instruction and class presentations may prove to be the best preparation for the new world of virtual job interviews and client presentations. 

4. Startups are surging

Americans are starting new businesses at an unprecedented rate. There are a range of factors behind the startup surge. One is that many highly talented people lost their jobs in 2020, which gave them some time to explore their passions and test their ideas. Others gained some extra time to devote to their side hustles thanks to the shift to remote work. And many who lost neither employment nor income still received stimulus checks that allowed them to invest in a sewing machine, office space, website, or a downpayment on a truck. So this is an excellent time to join a startup, get in on the ground floor, learn a wide range of skills and roles, and take a chance. 

5. An early retirement wave could lead to more rapid promotions

In the Great Recession, many older workers saw the value of their homes and retirement savings plummet, which forced them to delay retirement and continue earning. During this recession, on the contrary, house prices have risen more than 10% and the stock market has hit new records. At the same time, Covid-19 has posed the greatest health risks for older workers. Amid less favorable working conditions and increased retirement wealth, 1.4 million Americans aged 55 and older have left the labor force since last February. In many companies, a vacuum at the top of the corporate ladder will give rise to more rapid promotions and more opportunities for younger workers. 

Ultimately, the conditions into which the Class of 2021 is graduating may be much more promising than many feared earlier in the year. Future cohorts may even come to look back at the Class of 2021 with envy. 

Search the term “entry-level” on ZipRecruiter.com to find opportunities for new college graduates and new high school graduates across a range of industries. Below are some of the occupations with the largest numbers of entry-level opportunities. 

Common Entry-Level Jobs with the Most Openings for College Graduates 

Common Entry-Level Jobs with the Most Openings for Non-College Graduates 

Written by

Julia Pollak is Chief Economist at ZipRecruiter. She leads ZipRecruiter's economic research team, which provides insights and analysis on current labor market trends and the future of work.

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