One of the enduring memories of my involvement in a local business leadership group is a conversation I had with a mid-level executive with one of the Fortune 500 companies headquartered in my area. She was telling me how much difficulty her adult children were having in staying afloat in the area (they were still living at home in their late 20s). Here's how the conversation went:
ME: "What's going on with them?"
HER: "They simply can't afford to live here."
ME: "Why don't you sell them your home, since you're looking to downsize anyway?"
HER: "My home is worth $1.2 million. They couldn't afford that if two of them bought it together." (Apparently the thought of selling it to them for the same $400,000 it would have been worth without a government-inflated real estate bubble never occurred to her.)
ME: "Then have your company hire them and pay them enough money to afford it."
HER: [Completely baffled look on her face.]
That's the story in a nutshell. The ranks of the leadership in our top private companies are filled with people like this who have reached the age of 60 by leveraging a career path and a real estate bubble into a $1.2 million asset that nobody other than a family of 25 Mexicans can afford.
And her kids will eventually end up in Texas or North Carolina when their jobs move there.
Being willing to move to where the work is was of great benefit to me. People who put down roots give up something for what they gain.
I said a young man, ain’t got nothing in the world these days.
The media continue to point out a "declining male enrollment in college," but that statistic seems misleading, without any context.
Sure, at most colleges, around 60% of the students are female. But, the higher-paying STEM schools/majors are still dominated by men.
(There's nothing wrong with men and women choosing different majors. Just saying the total percentage of male vs. female college students doesn't tell us the whole story.)
"hiring preference for women and minorities, etc."
This article was about all millennial men. It didn't break the numbers down by race.
For generations, young men lived with their families until they married. Maybe the 20-something guys living with their parents today are being smart with their money. If they're commuting to college and avoiding college debt, that's smart. If they're working and saving their money, that's smart.
HER: [Completely baffled look on her face.]
You are assuming that her children had useful university degrees - say, in Physics, Computer Science, or Business Administration.
She was probably "baffled" by your apparent assumption that her Fortune-500 company should hire and pay big bucks for people who majored in "Lesbian Dance" or "Diversity Studies."
Regards,