An email sent last week by JPMorgan’s co-heads of global banking to welcome new graduates starting this summer had a stern warning: “If you accept a position with another company before joining us or within your first 18 months, you will be provided notice and your employment with the firm will end.”
Meanwhile, 80% of graduates surveyed are concerned about job security while seeking employment in the current market, compared to 77% in 2024. The findings are based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults who are new and impending college graduates.
The research also found that business (24%) is the most popular field in which graduates intend to pursue a career. Other top areas include healthcare (18%), computer technology (18%), finance (17%), education (16%), and artificial intelligence (15%).
This reflects strategic career planning based on sectors that showed resilience during recent economic challenges, noted Giacomo Santangelo, an economist at Monster.
So, seemingly, many junior analysts landing a coveted role at JPMorgan may not be looking to jump ship very quickly. However, for younger employees in general, there are still factors that could prompt them to leave—47% would quit a job if their workplace became toxic, and 39% would leave to seek a healthier work-life balance, according to Monster.
How are you working to retain early career, high-potential finance and accounting talent? I’d love to hear your strategies—send me an email.
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Join us on Thursday, June 12 from 11 a.m. to noon ET for our next Emerging CFO webinar. AI agents are transforming the workplace and reshaping the boundaries of innovation, driving a new era of efficiency and providing finance leaders with essential tools to innovate and create value across their organizations. In this session, we’ll explore what CFOs need to know about this technology, the opportunity costs involved, and how to effectively use agentic AI to streamline workflows, improve decision-making, and augment human productivity at scale. Featured speakers include Jamie Miller, chief financial officer and operating officer of PayPal; Matt Castonguay, CFO of Team Car Care; and Silvio Savarese, EVP and chief scientist at Salesforce AI Research.
