Why young people are having a harder time finding jobs.
The job market has been working on a recovery, but has hit a slump. This is especially true when it comes to the employment outlook for younger workers. Now that summer is here, many teenagers and young adults are out in the world looking for jobs. It is a yearly ritual, but this year they are surprised to find that there just aren't that many jobs to be had.
Although there is no dispute that the unemployment rates of teens and young adults is especially high, there is a great deal of argument about why it's true. Some of the suggested reasons are things that are in the control of the young people, but many of them aren't.
Here are some of the suggested reasons that younger workers aren't finding jobs:
- Salary expectations – We live in a consumer driven world and many young adults think that they are going to get a job and make enough money to have a great apartment, a new car and still be able to buy the clothes and gadgets they love. This isn't the case. When you are just starting out in the world, you aren't going to be able to earn a huge salary. You'll probably have to live with your parents or roommates for awhile and learn to save your money in order to buy extras.
- Too many outside interest – Many teens and young adults are used to keeping a grueling schedule of extra curricular activities and having many, varied, interests. This is great when you are in high school or college, but in the real world, most employers aren't going to be able to give you a schedule that is flexible enough to fit in your yoga class, gymnastics, ski trips and so on. You have to make your job your first priority.
- Parents that take care of everything – This one is a hard thing to overcome. Many parents refuse to ask their children to chip in for rent, food or utilities. When a young adult doesn't have to be responsible in order to live well, there is really no incentive to do so. In fact, they might be so comfortable at home with parents taking care of everything that going out on their own would be a huge hit to their lifestyle.
- More competition for entry level jobs – As the job market slows down, many professionals are being forced to take lower level positions and some have decided to change career fields altogether. This causes employees who typically work in the middle to start applying for and accepting jobs at the bottom. With the large pool of qualified applicants, it's less likely that an employer would be willing to take a chance on someone with no experience or work history.
- Larger focus on higher education – As an even larger portion of high school graduates are opting to go to college, there are less people interested in going to a trade school or taking manual labor jobs. Instead, there are more college graduates than there are jobs and many new graduates are finding that the only jobs they can get are in sales, retail or restaurants.
Young adults are facing a harsh job market right now. For some, the answer is to take lesser paying jobs in order to get some much needed work experience. For others, the solution is to look for unpaid internship opportunities until they are able to find a job in their desired field. Whichever option they choose, it's difficult to be optimistic when you are coming of age in this economy.
Why do you think young people are having such a hard time finding good jobs? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for SalesHeadsBlog, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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