Federal jobs aren't so hot anymore for recent grads

• Handshake data seen by BI reveals federal job interest dropped 40% after a wave of executive orders.
• Meanwhile, interest in state and local jobs grew over 30% year over year in the second half of the school year.
• Some job seekers initially interested in government roles are also going back to the private sector.

A year ago, the hashtag "government jobs" was trending on TikTok, with videos of employees hyping up the stability and perks of the field and explaining best practices to get a job.

Interest in the industry was surging. Not so much anymore.

In a highly competitive year, federal employers were the only industry that saw year-over-year applications decline in the second half of the school year, according to Handshake data shared with BI.

The federal government lost more application share than any industry year-over-year, aside from tech, the platform said.

Government roles, including state, local and federal sectors, received about 4.4% of the Class of 2025's total applications, down from about 5.5% for the Class of 2024 last year, according to Handshake's Class of 2025 report released Thursday.

Last year, the hiring platform reported a significant uptick in job availability and interest from college students to work for the government. At the time, stability was the top priority for graduating students, and government jobs delivered exactly that.

"People presumed at the time, there's nothing more secure than a government job," Handshake chief education strategy officer Christine Cruzvergara told Business Insider in an interview.

Cruzvergara said the class of 2025 was on track to follow and surpass that trend until a series of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump hit the federal workforce in January.

Around mid-January, federal jobs were drawing 2.7 times as many applications as state roles or local roles, despite state and local roles outnumbering federal roles over six to one, Handshake told BI.

But by early April, state employers were receiving 1.5 times as many applications as federal employers, and local employers were just below, the platform told BI.

"January hits and, all of a sudden, government lost a ton," Cruzvergara said, adding that the federal government specifically "lost a ton of applications."

Increased interest in state and local roles

While federal job applications dropped 40% year over year in the second half of the school year, local roles increased by 31% and state roles by 35%.

Cruzvergara said there's essentially been "a flip" between the government sectors. Prior to the executive orders, students were more interested in federal jobs, and there was some interest in state and local roles. This year, interest in state and local jobs went up after mid-January.

That's not a total surprise. Trump implemented a federal hiring freeze just about as soon as he got into office. He also created DOGE, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, which has been on a mission to reduce the federal workforce and dismantle agencies.

Meanwhile, states like New York, California, and Virginia released hiring campaigns within their local and state governments for federal workers. Cruzvergara said that students who were really set on working in government likely ended up looking at state or local positions instead.

The priorities of this year's graduating class may have also influenced their interest in state and local positions. While stability was the top priority last year, it came in second this year, behind location, Handshake said in its report.

State and local roles allow job seekers more flexibility to choose where they want to work.

Back to the private sector

Cruzvergara told BI that some job seekers from the class of 2025 who had high intentions of entering the federal government are shifting back to the private sector. Handshake told BI that there was an increase in applications to roles in tech, finance, healthcare, and consulting among seniors who had previously applied to federal roles before the executive orders.

"You've got students that are going back into finance, back into tech, back into some of the areas that they were leaving to go to the federal government last year," Cruzvergara told BI.

Cruzvergara said that there have also been increases in applications to nonprofits, law, and even real estate, which can also intersect with state and local policy.

The choice to reconsider the private sector often came down to practicality, Cruzvergara. The Class of 2025, in particular, is less rigid about sticking to one path and more open to using their skills across different areas.

Handshake's report found that out of 57% of the Class of 2025 who started college with a "dream job" in mind, fewer than half still have the same goals.