Jan 11
16
OK, so when I finished Grad school (and undergrad for that matter) I was bombarded by all kinds of offers from various companies, honor societies, professional organizations, ice cream shops, vacation packages…you name it. I decided to join one of the honor societies, and I think I checked a box to get free copies of Businessweek. Either that, or I’m paying for it and just haven’t figured out yet. I should look into that…hmm. Needless to say, most of the issues have just been piling up on my nightstand because I’ve been working on my consulting website, and just trying to keep up with the ever-changing world of online marketing.
I did however have a chance to read through their “2010 Year In Review”…so glad I did! The year in review is basically just full of crazy statistics about 2010. It also includes some news stories that popped up during the year that either I didn’t hear about, or had completely forgotten about. Remember the stock market “Flash Crash” that happened last May? The most interesting stats were actually stats about unemployment. They’re particularly interesting because of some of the numbers that pertained to 20-35 year olds. These hit close to home.
According to the Pew Research Center:
37% of 18-29 year-olds are either unemployed or out of the workforce. This number is the highest it’s been in 30 years.
The number of25-34 year-olds living with their parents has doubled since 1980. (21.8% of men live at home, and 17.8% live at home.) These numbers are closer to the rates in 1950 than they are to the rates in 2000.
85% of students that graduated college in 2010 planned to move back in with their parents.
Think about that…almost 40% of “young people” are unemployed or out of the workforce! OK there are tons of debates and controversy surrounding the unemployment number. Some say it’s accurate, many say that it isn’t.
I think Businessweek did a good job of breaking it down:
The unemployment rate in December was 9.8% (15,100,000 people), but that doesn’t take into account “discouraged workers” who have given up looking for work (1,300,000), people who want a job but aren’t “actively looking” because of family obligations etc. (1,200,000) and those that are working part-time, but would prefer full time work: the “underemployed” (9,000,000). Then you add the numbers together you’ll get 26,600,000 who are jobless or unemployed. This is 17% of the labor force, and much higher than the 15,100,000 that are showing up on the “unemployment rate”.
All right, so what’s the good news in all of this? Well, there really isn’t any…not in the Businessweek “Year in Review” at least. Unless you’re in one of the growing professions on the graphic showing the careers with the most and least projected growth between 2008 and 2018:
Data Communication Analysts: +53.4%
Home Health Aides: +50%
Management Analysts: +23.9%
Sewing Machine Operators: -34%
Post Office Clerks: -18%
MBA plus online media on my resume is starting to look really good. I’m really glad I changed my major from sewing.
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