Finding balance in the struggle to bring entry-level employees on board

The talk among both employers and jobseekers increasingly seems to be focusing on struggle. Employers bemoan a dearth of qualified candidates, while young jobseekers who are just beginning to launch their careers voice frustration. Recent research has found that well under half of new college graduates are finding jobs in their field. Are the jobseekers doing something wrong, or are employers at least partly to blame?

Facing up to a disconnect

Many employers are finding that the cliché is true: Good help really is hard to find. And recent grads are just as frustrated.

A report from education technology company Cengage Group released in September found that just 30% of 2025 graduates and 41% of 2024 graduates found jobs in their field. Also, 48% of those jobseekers felt unprepared to apply for entry-level positions.

Cengage Group’s 2025 Graduate Employability Report shows a widening gap between what employers want and what educators teach. The report says employers ranked job-specific technical abilities as their top priority, but educators placed those skills behind soft skills like critical thinking and problem-solving.

Certainly, employers value both soft skills and job-specific ability, according to research from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the College Board. The Cengage Group report finds that employers value candidates with soft skills, such as critical thinking and communication, for entry-level jobs, but the hiring managers surveyed also highly value industry-recognized credentials.