As you may have heard, the Federal Government released the latest unemployment numbers last Friday, stating that the official nationwide unemployment rate rose to 9.2%. While that is up slightly from analysts' estimates, this number does not tell the whole story. The private sector actually created more jobs than expected in this last month, but those numbers were offset by sweeping layoffs in the public sector, leading to a net gain of only 18,000 jobs. However, the numbers reported do not take into consideration "underemployment", or those working part time that would rather be working full time. The national rate of underemployment is around 17%.
Particulars aside, the picture is grim. But why is it taking so long to recover from a recession that has been technically over for a year? Are companies simply not hiring? The answer is a complicated one, and overall it exposes more questions than answers:
As an economically conscious college student, I like to think that I am setting myself up for success since I am doing the "right thing" and going to a four year institution. While it is true that college grades have a dramatically lower underemployment rate than non-grads, the numbers are not all that great; around 8.7% underemployment for college grads last month. Many of my personal friends that recently graduated are experiencing a much more difficult time finding a job than they had anticipated. How could it be that someone with a stellar GPA from a great school and work experience can't find a job?
Another factor in the educational equation is debt. The school I attend is currently running at about $48,000 a year for tuition, room and board. If a student was to finance his education at my school, he would be left with nearly a quarter or a million dollars in student debt and (probably) no job to boot. Although my school is on the absolute highest end of the price spectrum, student debt nationwide did surpass consumer debt last year as the number one credit expense in America. So is a fancy education even worth it?
The underlying problem exists between the education market and the job market. In America, the most in-demand college degrees are in engineering (chiefly mechanical and electrical), accounting, and computer sciences. Additionally, a recent report on NPR (I cant remember the particular show, my apologies) revealed that job openings in hard science related jobs often go unfilled for over a year! So how can it be that college grads are unemployed while employers are sitting on a vacancy for 12+ months?
It seems that what we are told about education and what actually matters in the job market are two different stories. I know at my school we do not even offer classes in engineering, finance, or computer science! The only of the top 5 most in-demand majors that is offered is accounting, which one can be successfully trained, tested and registered for at a community college or professional program in half the time and less than one year's cost than at my four year, accredited university.
It seems to me that America's unemployment problem has roots deeper than the numbers may suggest. While enrollment at institutions of higher learning are at record highs, the numbers lead me to believe that getting your masters degree in philosophy is not going to increase your job prospects. There is no way we will see a significant rise in real employment until students can find cheaper methods to obtain the relevant and applicable knowledge employers are seeking.
No comments:
Post a Comment