Since the COVID-19 crisis manifested, it has drastically changed educational landscapes worldwide, with the Philippines grappling with digital disparities exacerbating inequality. Current studies mainly explored the immediate impact of forced remote learning on academic performance and practical skills. However, there was an underexplored area concerning the effect on recent college graduates' perceived employability and work readiness. This study aims to address this gap, focusing on the Philippines context. Responses from 131 recent college graduates were analyzed, revealing that the forced shift to remote learning significantly contributed to perceived employability (R[superscript 2] = 0.453) and work readiness (R[superscript 2] = 0.440). However, examining the demographic profile variables did not substantially influence these outcomes in the hierarchical regression model. This research underscores the critical role of remote learning in shaping career readiness and challenges educators and policymakers to rethink strategies for integrating it into the broader educational framework, offering a lens to understand its long-term impacts on higher education outcomes.