"It's Insane" - The Graduate Unemployment Boom Getting Us Down

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Written by Evie Richardson (She/Her) | @evi3m4y | NEWS EDITOR

In December, Ruby Bird graduated with a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Communication Design. Not only did she get a degree, she graduated one of the top of her class, winning the top of school award for Communication Design.

Less than a month later she was rejected for a job at Woolworth’s stocking shelves, despite having worked there in the past. It wasn’t her first choice of job, or her second, or even her tenth. She spent weeks trawling job adverts, writing cover letters, and being rejected - or more often, hearing nothing at all.

Ruby isn’t alone. In Aotearoa we check in on unemployment four times a year. Most recently was the beginning of February, showing that 5.1% of the population is unemployed. This is the highest number since 2021, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bigger picture shows these problems go a lot deeper.

Economist at the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, Craig Renney, says it’s young people that are bearing the brunt of this rocky job market.

“The number of 15-24 year olds not in employment, training or education is rising rapidly.

“In June 2023 there were approximately 400,000 employed in the country. If we look at today, that’s fallen by about 5%, by 20,000 to 379,000.

“They are not in education because the numbers in education again have fallen. So they’re not doing anything.”

But this doesn’t mean a lack of trying. Bird says that the constant rejection has been disheartening.

“It’s been pretty difficult. I’ve applied for so many and heard back from pretty much none. It’s been so much harder than I expected.”

Renney says the jobs simply aren’t out there.

“Online job adverts fell by 27.2% this year. Every sector is seeing falls in jobs being advertised - as are every skills level. There's no way you can escape.” The country is in a crisis when it comes to employment, and Renney says unfortunately it's set to continue to rise.

“Over the next 2 years, the reserve bank is predicting cumulatively around 60,000 fewer jobs existing.”

Bird knows she’s not the only one in her situation, but the sheer number of young people also trying to get jobs adds to the difficulty.

“I’ve definitely noticed similar difficulties with a lot of friends, or anyone who’s been looking for a job.

“My friends who did the same degree as me are all finding the same thing - there’s no jobs in the industry.”

This meant her hunt had to expand, she found herself trawling hospitality listings, still to no avail.

“I would be on the job seeking apps and there were things like a part-time sales assistant at Tank Juice with 700 applicants. Stuff like that is insane.”

The impacts are not only financial but emotional too.

“It’s hard not to take it as a personal thing, because it can make you feel pretty useless and like I’ve spent all these years getting a degree for nothing.”

Renney emphasises that it's important to remember that this simply isn’t the case.

“Things will get better. They do. It’s tough, people shouldn’t be hard on themselves. It’s really easy to take these things personally, but often it’s not.”