A Lost Generation of Job Seekers?

E-Commerce Times ^ | October 28, 2002 | Peter Coy, Michelle Conlin & Emily Thornton

[B4Ranch]

Don't look here for help

[fuente]

Whaaa. The job markets a little tough. We've been living with the parents after grad school, but things will turn up.

[ServesURight]

Fricking move then!! Malene Comes and her husband lives in CA - That tells you all you need to know.

As Gray-out gets reelected things will only get worse.

[wideawake]

They made 120K in one year, apparently have no children, their rent is only 12K a year and they're taking food from charity?

How infantile are these overgrown children? What exactly did they blow their money on? Food, clothes and trips? Are they sorority girls fresh out of college?

I really have no sympathy.

[jiggyboy]

Boo hoo! They can't go out for dinner every night any more! These crybabies (including the writer) have no idea how well they have it compared to the 1982 recession and the 1990 recession. When they find a headhunter they've worked with who won't even shop their resumes around because "it just isn't worth my time now", then they're approaching the depths of 1990-1991.

[SoDak]

I have a lot of friends who spent 10k on things like MCSE certifications looking to change careers that are now scratching their heads and wondering why they did it. I have a friend who was a $70,000 a year "Technology Consultant" who recently took a job as a help-desk worker for $12 an hour. I'd say the worm has turned just a bit for tech workers.

[SamAdams76]

At the height of the boom in early 2000, 88% of all men in the U.S. from the ages of 20 to 44, excluding those in the military, jail and other institutions, had jobs. By September 2002, only 85% had jobs. For women 20 to 44, the employed share fell from a peak of 73.5% in early 2000 to 70.6% in September 2002.

This doesn't sound like a disaster to me. What we have is effectively a 3% drop in employment. Yeah, it sucks to be one of the three percent, but the vast majority of people are still working. (Why wouldn't they count those in the military as working?)

[Willie Green]

(Why wouldn't they count those in the military as working?)

(Why wouldn't they count those in the military as working?)

I would hope that they'd exclude ALL government employees.

[El Sordo]

Businesses not whizzing money away at the latest hiring fad and instead looking to people who know what they are doing.

What a novel idea.

[Maceman]

Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out

Once I lived the life of a millionaire
Spent all my money, didn't have a care
Takin' my friends out for a mighty good time
Champagne and whiskey, gin and wine

Who'd ever think I could fall so low
Ain't got no friends and no place to go
If i ever lay my hand on a dollar again
I'm gonna squeeze it till the eagle grins

'Cause nobody loves you
When you're down and out
In your pocket not one penny
And your friends, you haven't any

But if I ever get back on my feet again
Everybody's gonna be my long lost friends

It's mighty strange but without a doubt
Nobody wants you,
I got to tell ya
Nobody needs you
Nobody loves you when you're down and out.
When you're down and out

[Willie Green]

What a novel idea.

There's a whole generation who've never heard of it.

Similarly, they are unaware that you can make popcorn on top of the stove.

[Goetz_von_Berlichingen]

10K? Hah! Chickenfeed!

I'm now paying off almost 60K in student loans for the MBA I got two years ago. Stupidest damned mistake I made in my life. It represents exactly one line on my résumé and has had no appreciable effect on my job hunt.

It would have been a better investment to spend the money on lottery tickets.

[FITZ]

"Technology Consultant" who recently took a job as a help-desk worker for $12 an hour.

But that beats a Walmart job for $6 an hour. At least he was able to get a job unlike tool & die makers, factory workers, programmers, etc.

[FITZ]

I have a little sympathy and I worry about how long we're going to have a middle class with the sharply falling wages we're seeing. The only thing I don't have sympathy about is anyone who believed the 90s economy was good or that this economy we're in is based on anything solid has their eyes closed. The 90s was a good time to pay off all debts, learn to live on little and pay attention to where we're headed.

[Mini-14]

"Boo Hoo". What unkind words you have for these people. They are working -- not asking for your help.

[Gorzaloon]

In part, that's because older workers are prized for their experience and stability: "It's not at all surprising that we're seeing people who have come from an Old Economy set of values becoming more attractive again now,"

It is not just an old "Set of values". It is being educated in basics, before the NEA managed to start teaching "Feeling good about Failure", rather than teaching people to succeed.

It is being able to make change mentally, and knowing how to do long division and communicate in writing, and have some basic general Science.

Now, we are awarding PhD's in (Hahaha) "Urban Studies".

I know stockbrokers and dot-commers. What special skills are needed for either, that a bright 14-year-old could not acquire? How to fleece widows by churning their portfolios, or how to hire a thousand people to "manage a WEBSITE"?

Sorry, but these were never real jobs in the first place. And if a child-free couple made a few hundred thousand in the good years, and saved nothing, while having few expenses, now they know more...and have learned more then a hundred thousand in "Feel Good about Failure" tuition could ever have taught them. The good ones will rise stronger for it, the bad ones will be doing what they should have been in the first place.

[SoDak]

I guess that answers the basic question I've been pondering about completing an MBA part-time to enhance my career. I've got several computer-related certs, but all I have is a BA degree in business right now. I've been thinking about going back to school and earning an MBA or perhaps even going to law school.

[grb]

You are missing the big picture. There are plenty of jobs, but they are being shipped offshore to foreign countries. How does this effect the economy? It's not just unemployment. It's thousands of workers who make good money that is longer going into our economy. It's going into the economies of India, Pakistan, China, and Russia to name a few.

[Irene Adler]

My MBA won me the university teaching position I have held for the last 20 years. Smartest thing I ever did. I was able to raise my kids and teach. I am still an instructor; take a big hit in salary relative to the tenured professors, but I have had quite a good job, on the whole, of just the sort I want. Sure, I might have made more money doing something else, but the last 20 years have suited my needs just fine.