3 in 4 college students who secured internships or jobs after college have since seen them canceled or thrown into uncertainty, new study finds
- Three-quarters of college students' who secured internships or post-college work have seen that work upended or thrown into uncertainty by the novel coronavirus.
- According to a poll by academic news site College Reaction, 38% of college students who secured work have since had their placements canceled, while 37% have had their placements delayed or made remote.
- Students were also found to dislike coronavirus-enforced remote earning: 77% of those surveyed said distance learning was worse or much worse than in-person classes.
- Compounding the bleak findings, a slim majority of students were found to be experiencing mental health distress as a result of COVID-19.
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COVID-19 has seriously impacted college students' first steps into the working world.
According to a poll by academic news site College Reaction, 38% of college students who secured post-college work placements, including internships, have since had those work placements canceled, while 37% have had them delayed or made remote.
In total, therefore, roughly 3 in 4 of all students have seen their immediate post-college plans disrupted.
Students were also found to dislike coronavirus-enforced remote learning, with 77% of those surveyed saying remote learning was "worse or much worse" than in-person classes.
To cap it all off, a slim majority of students - 51% - were found to be experiencing mental health distress as a result of COVID-19.
The survey makes for grim reading at a time when the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in America has surpassed 600,000. At least 26,000 people in the US have died from the disease, including over 2,000 on Friday alone.
Although some experts claim the US is witnessing a "flattening-out" - whereby the country's infection and death rates level off - social distancing measures are still very much necessary for preventing further outbreaks.
As a result, numerous US businesses have been forced to freeze or annex their pre-pandemic hiring plans.
This isn't to say that securing immediate employment is impossible for students, even if it typically isn't white-collar in nature. On Monday, tech giant Amazon said it would be hiring 75,000 additional workers to help keep up with demand during the pandemic.
Get the latest coronavirus business & economic impact analysis from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is affecting industries.