Youth Unemployment

[Brandon White]

It was the culture of the workplace and more specifically the people he worked with (i.e. other engineers). For all intents and purposes my friend is Germanic, no idea whether or not that played a role.

He did say that there were track days in which they could go drive Porsche's as hard and fast as they wanted.....now THAT sounds awesome.

That does sounds awesome. My wife used to work for BMW Financial (as a contracted employee though). The full-timers get awesome car benefits. You get a 2 year lease on a 3 series for the mid $150's/mo if I remember correctly. The higher position you have, the better deal. Knew a guy with a free X5 and free gas. They even had seasonal motorcycle leases for $100/mo.

The kicker - they paid extremely low wages and the people dealt with it and never left because they were too locked into their car benefits. The only other good part was they'd close the office at the faintest hint of snow because they didn't want all those BMWs sliding around the interstate (the xi's were a bit more costly and rare at the time).

[mainemike]

there are plenty of jobs, and opportunity lies in difficulty, so there must be unlimited opportunity in this economy. and if yer entrepreneurial the sky is the limit. i don't know a single younger (20's-30's) person w/a strong work ethic that is currently unemployed, struggling financially, or pessimistic about his/her future. thats it and the rest is graphs, stats, news reports, excuses, enabling, and horseshit.

[AbeNP]

there are plenty of jobs, and opportunity lies in difficulty, so there must be unlimited opportunity in this economy. and if yer entrepreneurial the sky is the limit. i don't know a single younger (20's-30's) person w/a strong work ethic that is currently unemployed, struggling financially, or pessimistic about his/her future. thats it and the rest is graphs, stats, news reports, excuses, enabling, and horseshit.

Mainemike, spot on yet again (and w/o visual aids this time too). I am constantly astonished at how quickly some of my peers give up, or have a total lack of foresight beyond the next 6 months. For me, internships = apprenticeships and this winter I got an education which no 30k/yr school could have given me, and for free too! The sad thing is that I was doing work that at one time someone probably got paid to do, but that is because I rock, and I showed them that I rock so they gave me real work to do. Not enough of us have that attitude. That attitude is golden, atmo.

[Archibald]

there are plenty of jobs, and opportunity lies in difficulty, so there must be unlimited opportunity in this economy. and if yer entrepreneurial the sky is the limit. i don't know a single younger (20's-30's) person w/a strong work ethic that is currently unemployed, struggling financially, or pessimistic about his/her future. thats it and the rest is graphs, stats, news reports, excuses, enabling, and horseshit.

Fucking A!

It's amazing how much drama disappears when you work hard and make competent decisions.

We recently advertised what is really, imho, a very good job. We has some real quality applicants. We also had a bunch of slackers. Folks that couldn't be bothered to attempt making a good impression with a simple introductory letter. What I noticed is the applicants that had jobs wanted this job. Those that were unemployed couldn't seem to care less. Isn't that backasswards?

[joosttx]

Wow, I always said this statistic, high unemployment among young men is kindling for revolution. Thank god there's playstation to past the time away.... Think about it.

[caleb]

i don't know a single younger (20's-30's) person w/a strong work ethic that is currently unemployed, struggling financially, or pessimistic about his/her future.

I certainly do. I'd say I know at least ten people who were good enough to get hired by large legal and architectural firms 5-10 years ago but are now without work because the work dried up. Yes, I know some will say that lawyers, architects, and anyone else that doesn't do "real" work is a degenerate deserving of unemployment, but that's not how I see it. These guys have real skills, the market just isn't there for them anymore. I know your post is partly tongue-in-cheek, but I don't think it's an accurate representation of the country. There are lots of people out there who have done pretty much everything right and now find themselves hanging out in the cold.

[edoz]

One downside is that lots of guys don't make it to 65 working every day with their hands. Their backs, shoulders, knees, etcetera "go" and they find themselves collecting disability at 55. Someone in a non-physical occupation can often work 10-15 years more.

I've got to take issue with this one. I've been worked into the ground by plenty of guys who were pushing retirement age. Hell, my grandfather worked professionally as a carpenter well into his 70s, and worked part time until he died at 91.
I look around at the weld shop I work in, and at 39 I'm in the middle. Half the guys in the shop are older than me. I just can't believe that sitting in an office for 30 years is somehow easier on a person, by that logic sitting in front of the TV every night will help you live longer than going out and being active.

[Nierman]

One thing this deconomy did was free many reluctant entrepreneurs from the corporate camel clutch.

[shanerpvt]

i guess that’s the point. they might not have opportunity in their trained profession, but with a strong work ethic (and some determination) they will find opportunity.

depressed markets are fertile grounds for the entrepreneur. It is in fast growing robust times they outgrow cash flow or get swallowed up by large corps looking to quench their thirst of ever more profits (not that there is anything wrong with that).

if I wake up tomorrow to find nobody wants my product (or skills), I will find new ones that fit current needs.

Good luck to all in these trying times,
shaner

[jscottyk]

A hard hitting NY Times Op-Ed published today draws out some parallels between the Egyptian situation and our own...

The Op-Ed puts forward an interesting position but I think it overlooks (or ignores) a major piece of demographic information; the percent of the population that is considered "youth". In the referenced Mid-East countries it's very high. So, they have a large population of youth of which 25% are unemployed.

Does anyone know the number number in the US? The percentage of the US population that is 16-24? Whatever it is I do not think it's as has as the referenced Mid-East countries.

...What is to be done?

See mainemike's post.

[jscottyk]

I certainly do. I'd say I know at least ten people who were good enough to get hired by large legal and architectural firms 5-10 years ago but are now without work because the work dried up. Yes, I know some will say that lawyers, architects, and anyone else that doesn't do "real" work is a degenerate deserving of unemployment, but that's not how I see it. These guys have real skills, the market just isn't there for them anymore. I know your post is partly tongue-in-cheek, but I don't think it's an accurate representation of the country. There are lots of people out there who have done pretty much everything right and now find themselves hanging out in the cold.

While this is probably true it referenced work didn't just dry up for the 16-24, it dried up for the entire field.

Can't get hired by a firm but are "good enough"? Go start another firm. Take a risk. Work hard. Possibly fail big time. Possibly reap huge rewards.

[caleb]

i guess that’s the point. they might not have opportunity in their trained profession, but with a strong work ethic (and some determination) they will find opportunity.

That presumes that the unemployed have a fairly flexible skillset, which isn't always the case. I have a friend who's an experimental physicist - smashing atoms together and stuff. There are lots of unemployed people in his field because research money has dried up, labs have closed down, and universities aren't hiring. It's not like those guys can just flex over into an adjacent field, their skills are too specialized. Here they couldn't even teach physics in a public high school because they don't have teaching certification. I'm not convinced it's a lack of work ethic, rather I think it's often investing in a highly specialized skillset without a plan b. PhD's don't come with an escape hatch. There comes a point where the investment of time, money, and life into a set of skills just means for some people that plan a is the only reasonable plan.

[caleb]

While this is probably true it referenced work didn't just dry up for the 16-24, it dried up for the entire field.

Can't get hired by a firm but are "good enough"? Go start another firm. Take a risk. Work hard. Possibly fail big time. Possibly reap huge rewards.

Yet, if the reduction in existing employment is a reflection of a reduction in market demand, the situation is still pretty bad for entrepreneurs in the field that is contracting, no?

I'm just not seeing the "if you work hard you'll be rewarded" line playing out in society for the young these days and I'm trying about as hard as I can to resist the reduction of that trend to the individual. The reason we have nearly 10% unemployment is not because people suddenly became lazy. They've always been lazy and always will; what's changing is something else.

[Jonathan]

Fucking A!

It's amazing how much drama disappears when you work hard and make competent decisions.

We recently advertised what is really, imho, a very good job. We has some real quality applicants. We also had a bunch of slackers. Folks that couldn't be bothered to attempt making a good impression with a simple introductory letter. What I noticed is the applicants that had jobs wanted this job. Those that were unemployed couldn't seem to care less. Isn't that backasswards?

a few years ago I was witness to Alan Greenspan giving a nice bitch slap to Senator Sanders (VT) in his testimony to congress. Sanders tried to pidgeon hole Greenspan into saying that raisng the minimum wage was good. G'Span's rsponse was that kids need to have an opportunity to learn how to apply, dress for an interview, show up on time etc and a high minimum wage does rob the workforce of a certain number of those 1st time workers. Now this is not about Greenspan, that's another topic, but I think he was right in this small instance. The number of kids I see apply for jobs wearing shorts or interview in jeans blows me away. My dad would have kicked my ass if I'd have gone for an interview without a tie on, nice shoes etc. I just don't think some people are prepared for the world we live in.

[caleb]

I've got to take issue with this one. I've been worked into the ground by plenty of guys who were pushing retirement age. Hell, my grandfather worked professionally as a carpenter well into his 70s, and worked part time until he died at 91.
I look around at the weld shop I work in, and at 39 I'm in the middle. Half the guys in the shop are older than me. I just can't believe that sitting in an office for 30 years is somehow easier on a person, by that logic sitting in front of the TV every night will help you live longer than going out and being active.

While I'm sure your observations are true, they aren't really representative of the big picture. Here's Stattin and Jarvholm's (2005) summary of disability by employment category:

Picture 1.png

I can't link the article here, but I have it on my computer and will send it to anyone who wants it.

[54ny77]

My father in law is 72 and works 6 days a week as a car mechanic (his business of 50+ years), and drives a snow plow in winter, the latter out in pre-dawn storms as wicked as they get.

It's pretty friggin' inspirational, is what it is.

I hope to be as healthy and productive at his age.

I've got to take issue with this one. I've been worked into the ground by plenty of guys who were pushing retirement age. Hell, my grandfather worked professionally as a carpenter well into his 70s, and worked part time until he died at 91.
I look around at the weld shop I work in, and at 39 I'm in the middle. Half the guys in the shop are older than me. I just can't believe that sitting in an office for 30 years is somehow easier on a person, by that logic sitting in front of the TV every night will help you live longer than going out and being active.

[54ny77]

i think that 10% number is a joke. simple smell test is ask around amongst your peers/colleagues and take note of how many are unemployed.

add the underemployed to that list and you get a sense of the severity of the situation.

i'm young and can't appreciate the wisdom or confidence of being able to say america is resilient and is at its best when backs are against the wall, but man....i'd like to see some light at the end of the tunnel....

Yet, if the reduction in existing employment is a reflection of a reduction in market demand, the situation is still pretty bad for entrepreneurs in the field that is contracting, no?

I'm just not seeing the "if you work hard you'll be rewarded" line playing out in society for the young these days and I'm trying about as hard as I can to resist the reduction of that trend to the individual. The reason we have nearly 10% unemployment is not because people suddenly became lazy. They've always been lazy and always will; what's changing is something else.

[Jonathan]

Why do we feel entitled to a good job because we graduated college, or are even Americans. The Americans who made this country great emigrated to these shores with no job waiting and no social safety net. The only thing they had was an opportunity to make a better life and compared to almost every country we still maintain that advantage. I dont mean to whitewash our problems, we have real problems, but I think there is still as much opportunity as there ever was if you're willing to go for it.

[edoz]

While I'm sure your observations are true, they aren't really representative of the big picture. Here's Stattin and Jarvholm's (2005) summary of disability by employment category:

Picture 1.png

I can't link the article here, but I have it on my computer and will send it to anyone who wants it.

Yeah, there's an bigger risk of getting hurt on the job for a plumber over an office worker. You get jacked up bigtime, you end up on disability. That's not really evidence that a person can't do the day to day work when they're 60. There are plenty of old plumbers. That's just evidence of the higher penalty for failure. Kinda how air travel is safer than driving, but when the shit hits the fan, it hits big.
I think you have to take into consideration the sedentary nature of office work, and it's contribution to a general state of poor health. Add obesity, heart disease and other inactivity related problems to that graph and I think a different story will emerge.

[zetroc]

Tell me about it. I know several guys in their late 20s/early 30s who are unemployed because they're basically too picky and have problems being told what to do.

McDonald's is always hiring.