So, it’s that time of year again when the boomerang kids come home to roost. You know, those adult children who you thought would finally fly the nest but end up back in your house instead. It seems to happen earlier and earlier every year, doesn’t it?
The university year isn’t even over yet, but many institutions are ditching traditional exams for dissertations or online assessments. Cheaper for them, apparently. As a result, third-year students are cutting their losses and heading home right after Easter. And a good number of them are leaving without a job lined up.
It’s tough out there for these young people. They’ve worked hard for good degrees from top universities, but now they’re stuck working in bars, traveling, or desperately applying to companies that use AI to sift through resumes. Imagine sitting in front of a camera, trying to impress a bot that doesn’t even have hands to shake. Rejection hurts enough as it is, but being turned down by a computer program? Ouch.
And don’t even get me started on LinkedIn. All these students have been on it for years, comparing themselves to others who seem to have it all figured out. It’s enough to drive anyone crazy. The job market is flooded with applicants, partly because some are resorting to AI to fill out applications in bulk. It’s like robots talking to robots at this point.
I recently visited my old college at Cambridge and was surprised to find that many students still had no idea what they would do after graduation. It’s a tough reality to face. The job market is tough, especially outside of London where living costs are sky-high. It’s a vicious cycle of too many applicants and employers raising the bar higher and higher.
AI is also creeping up on entry-level jobs, threatening to automate tasks that were once done by young, eager trainees. If companies start automating these jobs, how will young professionals climb the ladder? It’s a worrying trend that doesn’t bode well for the future.
But hey, there’s hope for these boomerang kids. They may take a bit longer to find their footing, but they’ll get there eventually. The economy won’t stay stagnant forever, and their qualifications will pay off in the long run. The real concern is for those who can’t go back home and wait for things to improve.
We can’t keep setting these young people up for disappointment and then act surprised when they’re frustrated. If we keep promising them the world and then failing to deliver, we’ll only have ourselves to blame in the end. Let’s hope things turn around for the better, for their sake and ours.
