Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Public Health 2251-6085 53 12 2024 12 08 2779 2788 Mingsheng Chen Department of School of Materials and Packaging Engineering, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuqing, China Mingjuan Zheng Department of Student Affairs, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University, Fuqing, China 2024 01 05 2024 05 30 Background: The aim was to explore the relationships among employment pressure, ego depletion, negotiable fate, and recent graduates’ suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A total of 2703 recent graduates completed two times questionnaires that measured employment pressure, ego depletion, negotiable fate and suicidal ideation in the current study. Results: 1) employment pressure positively predicts suicidal ideation among recent graduates; 2) ego depletion mediates the association between employment pressure and recent graduates’ suicidal ideation; and 3) negotiable fate moderates the associations of employment pressure with ego depletion and suicidal ideation, while the relationships of employment pressure with ego depletion and suicidal ideation are stronger for recent graduates with a strong belief in negotiable fate. Conclusion: Ego depletion and negotiable fate play a significant role between employment pressure and recent graduates’ suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This still needs to be noted in the post-epidemic era. https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/34203 https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/download/34203/8424