More Economic Woes Plauge Youth

Craig talked about it this weekend and Mike cited more stories earlier this week, now even TIME is talking about the ways in which the economy is hurting graduating college seniors with a job forecast worse than ever.

"Unfortunately, there are far fewer jobs than anticipated, according to a report out today from the National Association for Colleges and Employers (NACE). The companies surveyed for the group's spring update are planning to hire 22% fewer grads from the class of 2009 than they hired from the class of 2008, a big letdown from the group's projections in October that hiring would hold steady"

At the same time the largest class in our nation's history is graduating from high school. While this is a celebration for the Millennial Generation graduating into new voters and an ever increasing group of political power, it makes it even harder for those going directly into the work force or trying to get into strapped colleges across the country.

The Times Tribune calls us the Echo Boom - because we are the children of Baby Boomers. But there's been a huge change in the last 40 years

"The big difference between then and now is in the 1970s, fewer than 50 percent of graduates went on to college, said David Hawkins, director of public policy and research for the National Association for College Admission Counseling."

The TIME piece goes further to caution those just entering the job market

"Some 44% of companies in the survey, conducted last month, said they plan to hire fewer new grads, and another 22% said they do not plan to hire at all this spring, more than double last year's figure. "If you were a student and were out there [interviewing] in the fall, you probably had a decent chance of getting a job," says Edwin Koc, director of strategic and foundation research at NACE. "But frankly, the spring does not look good."

The piece goes on to say that finance jobs are the hardest hit hemorrhaging as many as 71% of expected job openings. That said federal and government jobs are still stable. I highly recommend the FDIC if you're looking for government work. With banks failing all over the country and home foreclosures on the rise its a great place to get your start. Plus they have benefits.

But while bartending for minimum wage after graduating with more than $21,000 in debt seems impossible, graduate school is one way of holding off those student loans.

"Lance Choy, director of the career development center at Stanford, notes that grad schools were a popular backup a few years ago during the dotcom bust, but applications are flat this year. "Who needs more debt when the job market is looking rather grim?" he says.

In the end we might all be floundering for jobs, health care, and progress but there's always graduate school - or heck... run for office. My only suggestion is to have your ducks in a row. have a spotless resume, do as many training programs as possible, and don't just dress to impress actually be impressive - otherwise you're just another douchebag in a suit.

Comments (1)

Greg Pedersen

I have a good idea of how to get rid of all the "Economy Sucks Sale!" signs. The President of the United States calls for a press conference and he himself, not Gibbs, announces "no more bail-outs" and "no more capitol gains tax". Then, just watch what happens! Sarah, regarding your last sentence in your article, the President should have said that to all of his cabinet appointees.

Posted by Greg Pedersen | March 6, 2009 1:03 PM

Posted on March 6, 2009 13:03

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