Uncertain of their statuses, Latino graduates report feeling lost and hopeless. The pandemic threatened the expenditure potential of the Latino graduates, who represent a significant portion of the U.S. workforce.

As one of the youngest racial or ethnic groups in the United States, around 1 million of the minority group will be turning 18 this year and the following years for at least two more decades. In 2012, analysts predicted this number at 2030, but it was quickly surpassed at as early as 2018. 

Helping the graduates

A number of organizations have stepped up to support these students after their graduation. These colleges called themselves the Hispanic-Serving Institutions.The Alamo Colleges District for instance posted updates on the emergency aid that was made available to the students through the CARES Act. This also included posting information to students who graduated this semester.

A San Antonio district with Latino students that comprised 60% of the population offered financial relief programs to help eligible students receive $300 payment. They also made initiatives for a student fund to those who required assistance for losses sustained by unemployment and other expenses like healthcare and procurement of basic necessities.

Co-founder of nonprofit organization Pay Our Interns Carlos Mark Vera said that 4 million Latinos graduated this weekend. He said no preparation would be enough to get them through the "worst job market" in history. Formerly an unpaid intern at the federal government offices, he and his group worked to secure payment for interns in Congress. Vera expressed his concern over Latino graduates, saying that the community should also give provisions to the incoming workers affected by the crisis.

He added that the Latino community lacked the networks and wealth that Caucasians had for subsidy. 

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Latinos represent a large portion of the workforce

According to the Pew Research Center's Mark Hugo Lopez, director of global migration and demography research, their careers would be affected financially and economically by the pandemic in the long run. In a separate study, Pew Research conducted a survey that showed 49% of Latinos in the United States said they or someone in their households had experienced a loss in expenditure or employment or both compared to a third of all adults in the country. The figure was especially higher for young Latinos aged between 18 - 29, with 53% claiming they were affected by the job cuts in March.

A recent Latino Decisions poll presented data that proved 60% of Latino respondents either lost jobs or lost working hours. Lopez said that Hispanics were the population affected the most by mitigation measures against the transmission of COVID-19, especially since a great portion belonged in the lower-income sectors. He added that this pandemic served to highlight the deep-rooted challenges the Latinos have been facing for years, and warned that this was important to remember.

Despite that the majority of young Latinos were born in the United States, accounting for about 94% of those under the legal age, the coronavirus was spread disproportionately and hit more immigrant communities.