That might be true for some; but I got my first "real job"* about a year ago. I put out a LOT of applications and got few responses; it was actually pleasantly surprising when I got an actual "we're sorry" letter simply because it showed more responsiveness/cost than the "we're sorry" e-mails. This job was actually the only one that I got that showed serious interest in picking me up as an employee.
Now, you'd be quite right to ask what sort of degree I have; so I'll tell you -- a bachelors in Computer Science... and it only took me a decade to get it (got deployed a couple times, that busted several semesters), but I got it with no loans so that puts me ahead of the game.
* By "real job" I mean a job in the private sector which was not obtained a) in part because of my social connections & b) not school or government funded.
The most it does is give them an excuse during the occasional parental tongue-lashing. And it’s not like they’d be qualified for anything but a menial job, they haven’t gone to any kind of schooling, they’ve developed no skills outside of Playstation. Part of having no responsibility means having no reason to become qualified for a job.
I tried applying for those 'menial jobs' in the last several summers before graduating; there was NOTHING. (Though I did get a job one summer with a man from my church doing landscaping.)
So, while I'm sure there are people who could get a job if they wanted; I'm not sure that there are as many jobs as you might like.
The failure to launch crowd, which is way to high a percentage of the generation staying home, don’t have degrees, don’t put out applications. That’s the specific group I’m talking about. Obviously not all people in that age group are failure to launchers, obviously not everybody in that age group without a job is a bum. But there’s a high enough quantity of them to start screwing up the numbers. My nephew-in-law and all his friends are in that group, don’t have jobs, don’t want jobs, don’t try to get jobs, the ones who went to college did so to get the student loan money and none of them were smart enough to know that scam plays better if you pass classes. They’re living the life of 12 year-old and they’re in their late 20s.
I know in this economy it’s an uphill situation for the ones actually trying. The good news for you is that thanks to the failure to launch set you face less competition.
And don’t knock jobs you get because of social connections. That’s the best way in the door anywhere. All my real jobs involved social connections to at least get my resume in front of the right eyes. It’s also why you need to make sure you don’t burn bridges, most industries function like small towns, you’ll run into the same people over and over.