By: Giovanni Gonzalez / Staff Writer
Young people, especially college graduates, are being hit hard by the economy’s lack of improvement. This does not bode well for the future of virtually every area of the workforce, producing a generation of jobless, professionally inexperienced and hopeless young people.
A college education is not cheap or easy to obtain and many graduates expect a return on their investment. Unfortunately, recent and upcoming graduates may have a harder time than they think getting into their preferred professional career.
At 12 percent, Florida’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the country, according to bls.gov. The website also states that the age group of 20 to 24 years of age has a whopping unemployment rate of 18.2 percent and the age group of 25 to 34 has an unemployment rate of 11.3 percent, revealing that those who should be the heart of the workforce have a combined unemployment rate of almost 30 percent.
This is an enormous number for what should be the most eager, available and prepared group looking to start careers. Keep in mind, these statistics reflect those who are actively looking for work. Those who have given up the job search are not even counted in these statistics.
The federal government has attempted a few things to kick start the economy, including bank and corporation bailouts, tax agreements and the infamous stimulus package. Although President Barack Obama has stated that things would be worse without those actions, things still are not looking good for soon-to-be college graduates. More legislation should be passed to help young people get educated and into professional careers.
It is unfair that young and eager workers should get fewer opportunities just because most of the jobs are already taken, and few new ones are coming up. Young people deserve help in these tough times too. After all, we are the future of this country.
Politicians could help students and graduates who are trying to enter the work force by lowering the retirement age instead of raising it, freeing up more jobs across the board. Companies should also include people under a certain age in their equal opportunity employment considerations to provide more jobs for young workers, as a group.
Every student has a goal in mind when working towards a college degree, and no graduate wants to return to a low paying job and living with their parents after spending a considerable amount of time and money obtaining a degree. However, a college degree is not the easy ticket to a high-paying job that it used to be. Rising unemployment is proof that it is taking a much higher and specialized education to land a secure job than it used to.
Many employees of the older generations are delaying retirement and holding on to their jobs in light of the state of the economy. These professionals are taking the money and running, so to speak, leaving a failing system behind for the younger generation.
Depending on how you look at it, this could be an opportunity to really change how many aspects of our society operate when our generation finally does inherit the work force, as the current systems of banking, oil use, food production and entertainment are outdated and unsustainable.
We still have a while to go before things start improving. It is surely discouraging to graduate with a hard-earned degree and be unable to start a professional career for several more years in some extreme circumstances. The current situation for job seeking graduates promotes a bleak outlook in many cases and it is difficult to swallow such a lack of opportunity after finally getting that college degree.
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