Sunday Discussion: Young Worker Crisis

By Nathan Young on April 23, 2012

I read this article from the Associated Press about why younger people (Millennials) are having a very hard time right now finding work. Even the ones with college degrees are having a hard time finding work. This is an interesting read.

http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/04/1_in_2_new_graduates_are_joble.html#incart_mce

One in two young people are either underemployed or out of work. And the young people often have huge student loans they have to pay back after graduating from college. But if they have no work or a job that barely pays anything; they can not pay the loan back. And many young people are still living with their parents. I know this because several of my Facebook friends still live at home with their family even in their mid twenties.

So what can us young people do to help find work again? Believe me; the being out of work for 10 months thing is getting old right now. I would love to take Geek Alabama to the next level but I need some income first. First; colleges could save money by eliminating useless majors. Those majors including liberal arts are going to lead people nowhere in their careers. Instead colleges and high schools need to focus on careers that are high in demand right now like nursing and skilled trades.

Another thing parents need to realize is that not all kids needs to go to college. We have way too many people going to school and getting degrees and are now sitting at home; just ask my mom. Some people could do better in technical schools and learning a highly specialized trade such as welding or plumbing. They pay good money and you will feel good working while some of your friends are sitting at home. Mike Rowe is part of the Go Build Alabama campaign in getting people to look at these types of trades.

But I do need to talk about the pink elephant in the room. More and more jobs are being taken away because of machines and jobs being shipped overseas. This is going to continue and that will mean fewer jobs for people. So we will soon move into a society of many people not working due to technology. One great example of this is in the Star Trek franchise. Money is not used and Captain Picard said this “The economics of the future is somewhat different. You see, money doesn’t exist in the 24th century… The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity.” Maybe this is a future we all can move too!