“There are so many paths, but each path allows you to go down one path and not explore others … [There’s] a lot of different options out there ... and each one expects something different … there’s so much knowledge [that I] can’t get.”
– Male, 20 years old
“I really don’t know what I want my ideal job to look like. I thought I knew what I wanted to do ... but ever since realizing what careers turn out to be, I don’t really know … Maybe people need to start narrowing down their ideas before they graduate [high school].”
– Male, 20 years old
"My main source for advice [on my future] would be TikTok … Honestly, it’s like the new Google. It has [all the] information that you want, and instead of having to read a lot, it’s in a video, it’s a lot quicker … They explain it a lot better … They get more in depth."
– Female, 20 years old
"I think [our son] has learned that if he chooses the right path … then hopefully he can see more success [than me and his father], because it's not like we don't like our jobs. It's just things are expensive ... I think he sees that."
– Mother of a 17-year-old
“We basically told [our son] there’s no other option. You’re going to college … I think he also wanted to go to college ... so it wasn’t forced. But if he didn’t want to go, he’s still going.”
- Father of a 17-year-old
"I don’t navigate [planning his future for him]. I’m there to be a support person ... [My son] is a driven kid, so I trust that he’s making good decisions."
– Mother of a 23-year-old
"Class sizes are a little bit too big. And so having to monitor 30 kids at a time … can be difficult to do. If I have to spend a lot of time on a special education student, that makes it difficult for other students because now that time that I could be sharing with the whole class, I [spend] with one special education student.”
– High School Career and Technical Educator
"I have students do certain assessments to learn more about their own strengths and values and look at how that would connect to certain careers within different industries. I also have them think about what an ideal lifestyle would look like for them and what pathway maybe they would need to take to achieve that."
–Community College Educator
"Our students, who are struggling the most with this, are really not just needing more information. They're needing help taking steps, and they’re needing that connection with someone to say, ‘hey, I see your eyes light up when you talk about this.'"
- High School Counselor
“I think it’s hard, because the corporate environment that we live in today has zero to no patience for training people … You just don't want to take a risk on someone who doesn't have experience because that means a lot for you.”
– Head of People Experience, International IT company
“The human resources and recruiting, everything’s AI now … So what I do is, I come up with a job description, and then two months later they come back with recruits.”
– Senior Process Manager, Global Sales
“Inappropriate expectations … These are folks that are expecting some interesting, different work schedule, or any capacity to work from home … And everything we’re doing is in-person, 8 to 5, Monday through Friday. And so folks are trying to have different schedules and thinking that'll be possible.”
– Regional Health Administrator, Health Services
This Broken Marketplace holds back millions of young Americans from achieving their full potential, impacting their ability to reach personal and professional success and receive the full promise of America.
It also has significant consequences for the future of the U.S. economy, particularly efforts by the U.S. government to increase domestic industrial production, which will require a larger pipeline of skilled worker.
While recent graduates are encountering challenges in landing jobs, there remain millions of open positions across the country. However, many of those roles require specialized skills, such as the operation of advanced manufacturing equipment, that most recent graduates don’t possess.
Many of those unfilled jobs in the current labor market—and more so in the future—require applicants to possess more than just a high-school degree. Yet too many young adults, as the survey reveals, lack the guidance and resources they need to acquire the necessary skills and credentials.
Addressing the shortage requires a fundamental realignment of every actor in the Broken Marketplace—from parents and educators who can better navigate young people to skill pathways, and employers who are willing to do more to train new hires.