New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York points to remote work as a primary factor behind rising unemployment among young college graduates, rather than AI adoption alone. The study reports that unemployment for graduates under 29 rose from 3.1% to 3.7% over nine years, while unemployment for older graduates ticked down. The work attributes the divergence to “remotable” fields—such as software engineering and financial analysis—where remote-eligible roles have expanded. The researchers find remote work could account for as much as 64% of the rise in youth unemployment since the pandemic. The results also include evidence that remote work can boost output among experienced workers while harming younger engineers, reinforcing the need for career-development strategies that account for evolving hiring models.