Updated: 11/19/2011

 

" The unemployment rate for 16-24 year olds in the U.S. is now higher than at any time since 1948, when the government first began to keep records."
-Business Week


Finding A Job Today

First the bad news.

  • The job market is worse than it has been for decades, especially for young graduates. (Note graph below.)

  • After graduation from high school and college many young people either stay with or move back in with their parents. Some parents who have lost much of their retirement savings are even moving in with their children.

  • Unable to find jobs, many people are enlisting in the military. Others are starting graduate degrees. Going to law school, which used to be a popular option, is now considered a bad option.  This profession has been especially hard hit.

  • TV stations are laying off employees. Seasoned TV anchors with decades of news experience (and million-dollar salaries) are being let go across the U.S.
red red red red red red red red red red red
'99 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10

 

In 2011 the teen unemployment

rate was approximately 31%

 

>> Could there possibly be any good news for broadcasting students in all of this?

Yes, a little.

  • The high-salaried employees that are being let go are being replaced by young, bright broadcasting graduates with limited on-the-job experience but at much lower salaries.
     
  • The exception to across-the-board downsizing in print and broadcast news is CNN, which despite drops in ratings, has been expanding, both in the United States and in its foreign operations. CNN has recently broadened their news operations to include newspapers, which puts them in competition with the AP (Associated Press).  Although in print news CNN has a long way to go to catch up with the the resources of the AP, some newspapers have been dropping the AP because of its expense.

 

Education and Unemployment

In terms of starting salaries college graduates are doing significantly better than those who don't finish college -- and that economic difference continues to widen.

If you look at families headed Education and Employmentby someone without a college degree, their income last year in real terms was below that of a comparable family in 1973. For this segment of the population employment opportunities have been getting worse.

Some jobs are being created for non-college young people, but most are low-paying jobs that do not offer health care benefits.

 

There is detailed advice on getting and holding onto a job here.

 

International Telecommuting

There is an acute shortage of U.S. graduates in computer science and engineering, and employers are being forced to look outside the country for qualified workers.  In addition to hiring many more immigrants, many U.S. employers are hiring foreign workers in their native countries and letting them "telecommute" to work via the Internet.

One U.S. company representative said, "It's not about the money [wages], we just can't find young Americans who are qualified to do these jobs."

 

Your Economic Future

In just a few short years the country has gone from having the greatest tax surplus in history to the greatest deficit in history. This is bound to have implications down the road. For example, there is concern about the future of Social Security and Medicare.

Given these realities, the old motto, "The future belongs to those who prepare for it," is particularly appropriate.

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