Where Young College Grads Are Finding Jobs: Government

Mandel on Innovation and Growth ^ | 10/08/2010 | Mike Mandel

[WebFocus]

First, let me apologize for the gap between posts. I’ve been immersed with other members of the VisibleEconomy crew developing videos that combine the best of news and education. In a month or two we are going to roll out a line of news videos entitled VisibleCareers–short, fast-paced news videos focusing on key events and changes in the economy that young job seekers should know about (the VisibleCareers site will be up soon).

As part of that effort, I’ve been developing new job market indicators. One question that people often ask: Where are the new jobs being created? But they are really asking: Where can people like me find a job?

So assuming that most of the people reading this blog are college-educated, here’s a table that shows where young college graduates (aged 25-34) are finding jobs over the past year. The number for each industry represents the increase in collegee-educated employment, comparing the year ending August 2010 with the year ending August 2009.

Immediately obvious: Government has been the main hirer of young college grads over the past year . And why not? Government jobs are safer, they pay well, and have better benefits than the private sector. The next biggest hirer of young college grads is the broad category entitled professional and technical services, which includes such industries as law, accounting, computer systems design, and management consulting. These industries as a whole have not been expanding, or expanding only slow–but they have been shifting towards better-educated workers.

Then comes the distressing category: Hotel and restaurants. We hear anecdotes about young college grads being forced to work as waitstaff in restaurants, and here’s one indication that might be more common than we would like–the number of young college grads working in hotels and restaurants is up 33K over the past year.

Two industries that I lump together in my mind as the ‘social and community’ sector are social assistance and membership associations. Now, for sure, not all the enterprises in these two industries are nonprofit. But in some sense, they are directed towards broad social goals. Total young college grad employment in the social and community sector is up about 60K.

One final but important source of jobs for young college grads is the communications sector, which for me includes industries such as telecom, internet publishing, and broadcasting. Young college grad employment is up about 18K in these industries. Please note–I was formerly in publishing, and now I’m in internet publishing–two different industries.

Which sector is worst? Finance, of course, which has been shedding young college grads like crazy.

[WebFocus]

[HereInTheHeartland]

Disgusting chart if those numbers are accurate

[therightliveswithus]

Or more likely not finding jobs at all

[WebFocus]

Here’s 3 very interesting trends going on around the world regarding the size of government:

1) SOURCE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100913/ap_on_bi_ge/cb_cuba_mass_layoffs

TITLE : Cuba to cut 500,000 gov’t workers, reform salaries

2) SOURCE: http://news.ph.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4346459

TITLE : Russia to cut 100,000 bureaucrat jobs by 2013: Minister

3) SOURCE: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/governmentjobs/a/hiringbinge.htm

TITLE: US Government Job Hiring Set to Soar

The Commies are detoxing from big government bloat, while we here in the land of the free are slowly ingesting their poison. Go Figure.

[Poundstone]

There are some very good reasons to make government a career. It certainly worked for me!

[WebFocus]

Have you ever considered the implications for the future of this country if most of the best and brightest ended up working for Uncle Sam?

[Poundstone]

Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that. There are plenty of best and brightest around. Government won’t claim even the lion’s share!

[Nachum]

The list, ping

Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list

http://www.nachumlist.com/

[HereInTheHeartland]

Germany has one of the best growth rates in Europe, and I read they had shrinking their govt sector.

[Oatka]

I once worked with an Armenian who grew up in Iran when the Shah was in power. When he left for America he said he had to go to 24 different desks to get his papers cleared. At the 24th desk, the guy looked it over, added another rubber stamp and pointed to a young guy at desk #25. The guy there carefully read the papers, then neatly folded them three times, inserted them into an envelope, returned them and pointed to an exit, saying “You are done.”

The Armenian explained to me that was the difference between America and much of the rest of the world. In Iran, everybody that could went to college, but since there were no jobs, they ended up in government. In that last case above, folding papers in three was a separate job.

I wonder how soon we’ll hear graduates proudly claim, “I’ve got a government job folding documents!”

[SuziQ]

I’m bookmarking that site. We have one getting BS in Economics in May of 2011, and another getting a PhD in Computer Science at the end of 2011.