Jeanne Whalen

And then companies were just fighting over the remaining workers.

Rachel, how is the job market looking for new grads?

out of college, out of high school.

Yeah, and like the experience of looking now, I think is also discouraging them so much more than would have been the case five years ago.

It's not just that there are fewer jobs out there for them to apply for.

It's that a lot of the process has been automated.

And so I wrote recently about some young people who are...

experiencing what's called a one-way interview, which I had never heard of, but apparently... Me either.

The company will, you as the applicant, talk to a screen, you talk to a computer that is showing you questions and writing and you answer and record your answers, but there's no human on the other side of the interaction.

But, like, does somebody on the other side watch the video or does, like, AI summarize it and say, this person had great answers?

Good question.

I don't know.

I assumed someone on the other side, a human, was watching it, but maybe not.

I mean, so much of it now is automated that young people think about it as, well, let's just throw out 300 applications today through Indeed and whatever other sites because...

It's just a game now, and they never have contact with a hiring manager or a human.

And so that also feels very soulless and discouraging for them.

But there has been a big bright spot in the economy.

That's after the break.

The stock market has done really well this year.

The Nasdaq is up about 15% this year, thanks in large part to just seven tech companies.