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College seniors prepare to enter a working world in Flux

    The white-collar workplace has changed a lot in the past two years. Remote working has gone from a quirky perk to a communal experience. Workers up to the C-suite have reassessed what they want from a job. And expectations about where and when to work have evolved.

    As executives scramble to merge remnants of the “before times” with pandemic-driven workforces, graduating seniors prepare to get started for the first time. The new normal becomes their first normal.

    With nearly every aspect of their college experience turned upside down, this year’s graduates are more used than most to living with uncertainty. The roughly two million people who will earn a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. college or university this year pursued academic and professional aspirations amid campus closures, online classes and remote internships.

    For better or for worse, they are entering the new work landscape without the memory of prepandemic life to guide or influence their choices.

    DealBook spoke with 10 seniors graduating from universities in the US about how they envision their career path – where they will work, how they will work and what factors can influence their choices. Their goals, interests and prospects vary, but almost all of them anticipate careers that are less linear and more dynamic than those of previous generations.

    And they are ready. “I don’t care much about change. It happens,” said Austin Rosas, 23, an economics major at Texas A&M University with a major in math. “Adaptation is what it’s all about.”

    Salaries and fringe benefits are important. But for a growing number of younger employees, a company’s culture and values ​​are just as important as individual pay.

    In a survey last year commissioned by software company Atlassian, 61 percent of millennials in the US — currently the largest generation in the workforce — said they prefer companies that take a stance on social issues, and 49 percent said they would quit a job that was not in line with their values, both significant increases from the previous year.

    The most important of those values ​​are diversity and inclusiveness. The National Association of Colleges and Employers surveys graduates every year about what they look for in an employer. The percentage of respondents who say a company’s diversity is important or extremely important to them has grown every year since 2015, with 71.8 percent of students calling it a top priority this year, said Andrea Koncz, the association’s research manager.

    • “Beyond values, the impact an organization has will make or break my decision to start and stay in a particular place.”— Citlali Blanco, 22, majoring in human biology at Stanford University

    • “I hope my future workplace will be an environment that is collaborative, inclusive and values ​​their employees. I want a workplace where I feel safe and comfortable sharing my voice, as well as a place where I can continue and grow in the field I want to succeed in.”— Rebecca Hart, 22, major in public relations and strategic communications at American University

    • “My workplace will likely be in a hospital or medical office, where I hope to see even more gender equality in leadership positions. I also hope that my workplace will be fully inclusive and represent a diverse range of individuals, both among my colleagues and the patients we serve every day.”— Selena Zhang, 21, major in computer biology at Brown University

    The kind of knowledge-based tasks called “office work” no longer need to be done in the office. In the coming years, the number of people in the U.S. doing most or all of their work from a remote location is expected to exceed 36 million, said Johnny C. Taylor, chief executive officer at the Society for Human Resource Management — doubling the prepandemic number of.

    What that looks like for every industry, company and team is evolving, often driven by employees looking to continue some of the benefits of the remote schedules imposed at the start of the pandemic. Hybrid schedules, flexible schedules and work-where-you-want policies will play a much larger role in this generation’s careers.

    • “While I really hope to work in an office, I want it to be a nice office, an office where they expect me to be on time and get my work done, but where I have the freedom to be creative in my work and work space. I definitely want to work full time. I love being almost too busy.”— Sidney Stull, 21, communications major at Boise State University

    • “As someone who works in tech, I’ve largely accepted that most of my work will be done at a desk in front of a screen. On the one hand, I’m excited to see all the valuable, accidental ideas and eureka moments that have long been promised to me. On the other hand, I find creative work to be a rather fragile process, and I often appreciate being at home to discover what I’m thinking about.”— Oliver Feuerhahn, 21, major in business and social sciences at the University of Minerva

    • “As I will be starting out as an investment banking analyst, I expect to be working full time in an office by industry standards. While this work environment may have fallen out of favor with other members of my generation, I sincerely look forward to the opportunity.”— Costa Kosmidis, 22, majoring in finance at Fordham University

    With wages lagging behind inflation, it’s harder to make ends meet today than it was a generation ago. According to census data, the percentage of American workers who have more than one job at a time has grown steadily over the past decade. Less formal studies have shown that younger employees are more likely than older colleagues to have a part-time job or job. Nearly half of millennial respondents to a 2018 survey by financial services firm Bankrate said they had a paid second gig at least some of the time. (Those surveys don’t count for unpaid informal care.)

    But a full-time job is just that. Some industries, especially the financial sector, still place early career workers on schedules that leave barely enough time to shower and sleep, let alone clock in elsewhere.

    • “I can see myself doing consultancy on the side. It’s getting harder and harder these days to maintain the desired lifestyle without multiple income streams, so that’s something I have in mind.”† Sydney Stull

    • “I don’t expect to have more than one job at a time. I’d rather have a single full-time job that I’m super invested in.”† Abby Mapes, 22, major in computer science at Duke University

    • “I can’t imagine being able to handle that. I really care about time away from work and being able to spend time with people I care about. Most importantly, I want a work environment that gives me flexible hours to spend with my family whenever that happens.”† Wylie Greeson, 21, environmental geosciences and English major at The College of Wooster

    With the accelerating pace of technological change, new fields and industries are emerging just as quickly as old ones are being broken down. A company or industry that does well during graduation may barely exist twenty years later. Combine that with a longer lifespan, and the likelihood that a current graduate will go through multiple careers in their lifetime is even greater.

    • “I really hope to have multiple careers. Realistically, I know I’ll be working in a traditional job until I’m 30. Hopefully by 40 I can shift my meaning from ‘work’ to something more project-based. And by the time I’m 50, I’m going to focus on other fun things in life. I think that I always want to contribute to interesting companies as long as I can, but I also don’t feel the need to absorb too much stress in the process.”— Oliver Feuerhahn

    • “Even deciding what I wanted to pursue after graduation was difficult for me, so I don’t expect to spend my entire career working in the same field. Being able to learn and grow by doing is what drives me, and moving forward for me is about adapting and meeting new challenges through creative thinking.”— Amy Liu, 21, majoring in economics at the University of California, Los Angeles

    This generation is unlikely to retire the way their grandparents or great-grandparents did, either by necessity or by choice. While many older workers have been pressured into early retirement during the pandemic, the trend towards longer life and the decline in soft pensions is likely to extend working lives.

    This does not have to be a difficult boat. A report released last year by the Stanford Center on Longevity called for a different pace of careers so that people work longer years, but with fewer work days in the week and fewer hours in the day.

    • “I sincerely believe that if I am still able to deliver up-to-par work that supports my team and my career brings me happiness, I will continue working after the golden years of retirement.”— Amy Liu

    This year’s new hires have seen with their own eyes how quickly the world can change. It’s no surprise that most of them expect major shifts in companies during their careers.

    Some of these are already underway. As burnout and exhaustion have pushed employees to lay off en masse, more and more companies are accelerating their efforts to incorporate employee well-being into organizational productivity. Experiments around the world in a four-day workweek have proved both popular with employees and profitable for employers.

    • “I am pleased that employees are being viewed more holistically, with mental, social and physical needs affecting performance. It would be great to see workplaces promote community building, adequate nutrition, environmental sustainability, fitness and stress reduction. This would greatly improve the lives of so many people.”— Citlali Blanco

    • “I hope a four-day work week becomes standard, and I hope that greater emphasis on mental, emotional and social health gains the upper hand in the workforce.”— Wylie Greeson

    • “I see that the workplace is much more collaborative over the years. I see a breakdown of the hierarchy leading to a more team-based organizational structure. I think this is beneficial, not only for the work being done, but also for the people doing the work.”— Sidney Stull

    What do you think? Let us know: dealbook@CBNewz.