Posted on 10/10/2009 4:12:44 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Bright, eager—and unwanted. While unemployment is ravaging just about every part of the global workforce, the most enduring harm is being done to young people who can't grab onto the first rung of the career ladder.
Affected are a range of young people, from high school dropouts, to college grads, newly minted lawyers and MBAs across the developed world from Britain to Japan. One indication: In the U.S., the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds climbed to more than 18%, from 13% a year ago.
For people just starting their careers, the damage may be deep, long-lasting, potentially creating a kind of "lost generation." Studies suggest that an extended period of youthful joblessness can significantly depress lifetime income as people get stuck in jobs that are beneath their capabilities, or come to be seen by employers as damaged goods.
Equally important, employers are likely to suffer from the scarring of a generation. The freshness and vitality young people bring to the workplace is missing. Tomorrow's would-be star employees are on sidelines, deprived of experience and losing motivation. In Japan, which has been down this road since the early 1990s, workers who started their careers a decade or more ago and are now in their 30s account for 6 in 10 reported cases of depression, stress, work-related mental disabilities, according to Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development.
When today's unemployed finally do get jobs in the recovery, many may be dissatisfied to be slotted below people who worked all along—especially if the newcomers spent their downtime getting more education, says Richard Thompson, vice-president for talent development at Adecco Group North America, which employs more than 300,000 people in temporary positions. Says Thompson: "You're going to have multiple generations fighting for the jobs that are going to come back in the recovery."
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
Rabscuttle has a point. Obama Gen Y? Nope. Reid Gen Y? Nope. Ayers? Nope. Pelosi? Nope. Hmmm. I’m seeing a trend. Alot of Gen Y’ers in there.
I’ve been told that there are over 400 graduate students in aerospace engineering at Purdue, and under 100 research projects. This because there are so few aerospace engineering jobs.
The central planners in DC could double the number of employed teens if they simply eliminated the minimum wage. How much they make per hour is not really important. What IS critical for them is that they learn how to work.
I think he would do that at his own peril. Those folks vote in much higher percentages than the twenty somethings.
In today’s world, languages — especially Far and Middle East — are a good skill to have.
Oh cry me a river.Most of ‘em voted for “THE ONE” so they can just suck it up.
You can thank The Baby Booomers' parents for that. SSI is the biggest ponzi scheme ever -- and the bill gets bigger as time goes by.
It has nothing to do with the accumulation or lack thereof of wealth by the Boomers.
Look at where the wealth is now: it is in the hands of the Boomers -- who earned it.
Your analysis is 100% wrong.
See, at least you said “most of ‘em.”
Obama is Gen Y.
ping
So the Mercedes given to the 16 year old, the have-to-have cell phones, brand new designer clothes every school year, the best and newest game systems, and the tv babysitter? The Baby Boomer parents were involved in none of that? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not gonna generalize about them either, but that is the MO of MOST Boomers that became parents.
Hey kids, you ****ed up, you trusted Obama.
My daughter wants to study medicine, and is taking Japanese as her second language. She is excelling in it. She might be able to cross over to Chinese, etc.
Gen Y is generally known as Mid 70s to early 90s. Try again.
Yeah, aerospace engineering was big in the 60s when we had Vietnam and the Space program. Now we are basically down to one new fighter aircraft. Boeing is the only big commercial airplane company—and they love to outsource their jobs. Still, someone with a degree in Chemical, Electrical, or even Environmental engineering should do fine.
Most kids today could’nt pour piss out of a boot with the instuctions on the heel.Working with ones hands will always provide a source of income.
Can you imagine if EVERYONE had engineering degrees. We are not all called to be the same thing, thankfully. The other problem is that you can’t get your foot in the door on most jobs without a bachelor’s degree, so kids have to get through something.
Sorry — Obama is Gen X.
In the old days Gen Y was between 1960 and 1980, but then they came up with Gen X and moved Gen Y bag a generation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.