wrt to the title of this thread, I would suggest that 100% of college grads have an “uncertain future”. And that’s a good thing, IMO. (Also the reason many of us 'rents made sure that the kids got a great college education.)
However, there is some influence. Those entering the work force during an economic or industry downturn (hence worse or no first jobs) tend to have worse pay, wealth, and career development even decades later.
https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/great-recessions-lost-generations
Our oldest kid graduated from college last year, in 2017. She seemed more interested in what the class of 2016 was up to — the group of kids in her major who had graduated the year before she did.
Seeing what they were up to, a year post-graduation, brought some options into focus as she approached graduation herself. She decided to take a risk, and move away from home, out of the Midwest, and to the East Coast, based on what some of the older kids had done. Get an unpaid internship to get your foot in the door. Work in a restaurant and do Task Rabbit to keep food on the table and a roof over your head. Eventually get hired in paid position.
It’s been one year now since she moved out there, and she is doing well. She talks about how she went from having NO IDEA what she was going to do after graduating, to just “going for it”.
Having said that, she has always been our laid back kid who seems more comfortable with a degree of uncertainty.
Good luck to your son, it’s a big transition. Lots of changes. Lots of uncertainty.
One of my three didn’t do college the traditional way and has been working for years, sometimes at low level jobs, but the quality of her jobs has improved in the last year. It’s funny, but in many ways her maturity is ahead of her siblings who went to top colleges. She is used to uncertainty, is willing to work long unpleasant hours, rolls with the punches but knows when to speak up. In the long run she will do better with a degree (she takes a class or two at a time and is midway through junior year) but in terms of handling “real life” she is way ahead of the game. Does college delay adulthood?!
@Midwest67 - thanks for sharing your experience with your daughter. I would love for him to do something like that but I don’t think he’s quite there yet. That said, he’s trying. He had a second round interview which sounded promising for a job in admissions at his alma mater; not what he planned and not in his desired field, but he is quite interested in the job.