It's tough out there for new college grads
From Make Me Smart by Marketplace
April 30, 2026 · 19 min · Episode 1560
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges new college graduates face in a tough job market influenced by AI.
We’re approaching graduation season for this year’s crop of college seniors. But along with all the celebrations, there’s an extra dose of uncertainty hanging in the air around new grads, as they face an extra-tough job market and the rise of AI. On today’s show, Kimberly talks to New York Times labor and workforce reporter Noam Scheiber, whose new book “Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class” digs into the historical context for the environment today’s seniors are graduating into. Here’s everything we talked about today: ”Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class” by Noam Scheiber ”Young Graduates Face the Grimmest Job Market in Years” from The New York Times ”The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates” from The Federal Reserve Bank of New York ”College Graduates Are Struggling to Find Jobs. AI is Partly to Blame.” from CNBC ”U.S. Worker Thriving Declines as Job Market Pessimism Grows” from Gallup We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org .
People in this episode
Host: Kimberly
Guest: Noam Scheiber
Topics covered
- college graduation
- job market
- AI impact
- labor market
- workforce challenges
Keywords
- college grads
- job market
- AI
- labor report
- Noam Scheiber
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: New York Times, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, CNBC, Gallup
Books & works: Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class, Young Graduates Face the Grimmest Job Market in Years, The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates, College Graduates Are Struggling to Find Jobs. AI is Partly to Blame., U.S. Worker Thriving Declines as Job Market Pessimism Grows
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