When the pandemic hit, I thought young people entering the job market were going to suffer a shock that would reverberate through their careers for years. I’ve never been more glad to be proved wrong.
There was good reason to worry at the time. Young people usually struggle in recessions. They have a harder time finding work and, when they do, it is more likely to be a job for which they are overqualified. When economic recovery is slow, it is more difficult for them to switch jobs to boost their pay and career progression. After the 2008 financial crisis, for example, the chance of a graduate working in a low-paid occupation rose by 30 per cent in the UK. It remained elevated seven years later.
On top of that, the pandemic seemed particularly calibrated to hurt the young. Workers under the age of 25 were more than twice as likely as those over 25 to work in the sectors that were closed down. While furlough schemes in many countries protected people who already had jobs, they weren’t much use for outsiders. Little wonder that joblessness among young people shot up when lockdowns began.