Why Millennials struggle for jobs
Category: Work
Published: 01/19/2009 06:39 a.m.
I was recently exposed to this MSN article by @eschipul on twitter. It talks about why some twenty-somethings are struggling to find jobs. As a twenty-something who is looking, this subject is fresh in my mind. From my standpoint there are two influencing factors aside from the current economy. One factor is based on psychological issues and the other on facts. Facts first.
Back in 1980 when my dad graduated, the US population was broken down as 85% white, 10% black, and 5% hispanic and there were 226 Million people (US census - pdf). This graph from the 1998 digest of education statistics shows a breakdown by race of people enrolled in college. 25% white, 19% black, and 16% hispanic. Some quick math shows 53 Million college students, or about 24% of the total population. Now, lets compare that to 2000 census data. The new breakdown is for races is 75% white, and 12.5% for both black and hispanic and a total population of 281 Million. For the enrollment stats, we now have 41% white, 30% black and 22% hispanic (as of 1998, which I would argue would follow a trend up so the 2000 numbers are likely higher). Even with the 1998 enrollments, there were now 104 Million students, or 37% of the population. That is a 50% increase from the generation before.
What does this mean? It means there are many more qualified, educated workers. It is a much more crowded market than it was 25 years ago. These are the numbers, and if you want to argue with their sources or my rounding that is fine, but don't ignore the trend; there are many more qualified workers by percentage than there were for the last generation. Now, onto the more guess-work side.
The argument that millennials were spoiled and told they were special. I know this is true for me and many of my close friends, but I can't speak for everyone. Perhaps there is thought that we expect more, or that we aren't as hard of workers. Well, I know I worked hard to get where I am at. The truth is we work just as hard, but our work is different. We save time on computers, we use our peers and connections in a different way, and we have the capacity exceed expectations.
College admissions are possibly more difficult than our current job-hunt. It took extra-curriculars, great grades and fantastic test scores to even be considered by elite schools. But, the promise then was that with this degree, you will find getting a job very easy. That is what we heard (which was likely used to motivate us). And for our parents, it was true. The last generation went to good schools, and because a smaller percentage of the workforce was college-educated, they had an easy time landing good jobs. But now for us, we are doing the same thing over again.
To sum this up, first we were told we were special. Then we were told to work hard to get into a good school, and a job would come easy after that. This was the experience of the last generation, so to them it was the facts. But, our competition grew by over 50%. So, after busting our hump to get into the good school, we had to bust our hump in college to get a good job after.
I worked hard in high school to get into a good school. Then again getting an ME degree at one of the top public schools for it. But that wasn't enough, so then I volunteered all my free time while at school. And I seemingly did land a sweet gig. It seemed like all the work I was doing was taking me to the next step. But the real thing I haven't learned yet is what makes a great job. And now that I am trying to learn that, and from my experience, it takes a bit of learning what isn't a great job.
I know everyone else thinks they are special, but the truth is I really am special. Let me come work hard for you, and I will make your work days less about putting out fires and more about growing in the future.