One of the most alarming bits of bad news in a sea of unwelcome statistics about unemployment, is just how bad it is for the young American worker these days. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds that the proportion of young people employed in July was 51.4 percent, “the lowest July rate on record for the series, which began in 1948.”
Where is this headed?
This is the future of our country being handed a raw deal. It is the responsibility of workforce professionals to think outside the box and create new methods of mentoring, offering career ladders that make sense, and nurturing an entrepreneurial culture to foster innovation.
“When I was coming up…”
When thinking back to my own career and its challenges, I realized that I know something about looking for work during a recession. In fact I was born during the recession of 1958.
Overqualified and underemployed.
I graduated from college in the recession of 1981. I turned to the government agency to help me and my employment counselor told me my BA was worth “bugger all”, and it wouldn’t help me contend with the dearth of good jobs. I waited tables until American Motors was hiring, found work there, and got laid off three months later. Entering the workforce during a recession ensured I would remain underemployed until I decided to go to graduate school.
“Hey, does anybody give a rip?”
The unemployed person is in a vexing solitary cycle of rejection. This recession amplifies the alienation the unemployed experience, possibly more so for young people who are used to the support and camaraderie of a social group. When you look for work, you’re on your own. Some blame a higher minimum wage for higher youth unemployment rates, and make comments like “Most of these teens and twenty-somethings aren’t worth a damn even when they are “employed”
Bootstraps and all that…
When you are young, you are often undervalued by your elders. You’re told to work hard to get ahead but no one tells you how, and you have to find your own way. We love people who succeeded through adversity with hard work.
Can we have some collaboration please?
But if we are to successfully transform this great challenge into opportunity, we all need to counter the pessimism and negativity floating around America right now by offering help, wisdom and compassion. Here in Southern Arizona we are at work on a community collaboration platform called (AZ)WeToo.TM Initially created as a platform for supporting entrepreneurs in Michigan, we are finding new applications for WeTooTM in other communities. It could be used to help aggregate job-finding (or job-making) resources and connect these young people to each other. Whether through this tool or others, we need to connect young people around work in the same way we connect them socially or around other common interests.
WorkBook
I propose is that Workforce Boards, One Stops, all levels of government create a FaceBook for workers, a WorkBook if you will, where young workers can find information, mentors, networks, and each other. While web tools alone are not the solution, they do address many of the vexing problems of alienation and isolation that create a sense of hopelessness in the face of so much adversity. Online profiles lead to visibility, visibility leads to connection and a sense of community. Job opportunities can come as a tweet, and mentors can offer advice and wisdom from their BlackBerries.
It’s time to act.
We should all pay attention to this serious problem of youth unemployment. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to help them help us create the eventual recovery and a sustainable economy.
New Approaches for Young Wish-They-Were-Workers
Thanks to deanmeyersnet on Flickr.
Really high unemployment among youth.
One of the most alarming bits of bad news in a sea of unwelcome statistics about unemployment, is just how bad it is for the young American worker these days. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds that the proportion of young people employed in July was 51.4 percent, “the lowest July rate on record for the series, which began in 1948.”
Where is this headed?
This is the future of our country being handed a raw deal. It is the responsibility of workforce professionals to think outside the box and create new methods of mentoring, offering career ladders that make sense, and nurturing an entrepreneurial culture to foster innovation.
“When I was coming up…”
When thinking back to my own career and its challenges, I realized that I know something about looking for work during a recession. In fact I was born during the recession of 1958.
Overqualified and underemployed.
I graduated from college in the recession of 1981. I turned to the government agency to help me and my employment counselor told me my BA was worth “bugger all”, and it wouldn’t help me contend with the dearth of good jobs. I waited tables until American Motors was hiring, found work there, and got laid off three months later. Entering the workforce during a recession ensured I would remain underemployed until I decided to go to graduate school.
“Hey, does anybody give a rip?”
The unemployed person is in a vexing solitary cycle of rejection. This recession amplifies the alienation the unemployed experience, possibly more so for young people who are used to the support and camaraderie of a social group. When you look for work, you’re on your own. Some blame a higher minimum wage for higher youth unemployment rates, and make comments like “Most of these teens and twenty-somethings aren’t worth a damn even when they are “employed”
Bootstraps and all that…
When you are young, you are often undervalued by your elders. You’re told to work hard to get ahead but no one tells you how, and you have to find your own way. We love people who succeeded through adversity with hard work.
Can we have some collaboration please?
But if we are to successfully transform this great challenge into opportunity, we all need to counter the pessimism and negativity floating around America right now by offering help, wisdom and compassion. Here in Southern Arizona we are at work on a community collaboration platform called (AZ)WeToo.TM Initially created as a platform for supporting entrepreneurs in Michigan, we are finding new applications for WeTooTM in other communities. It could be used to help aggregate job-finding (or job-making) resources and connect these young people to each other. Whether through this tool or others, we need to connect young people around work in the same way we connect them socially or around other common interests.
WorkBook
I propose is that Workforce Boards, One Stops, all levels of government create a FaceBook for workers, a WorkBook if you will, where young workers can find information, mentors, networks, and each other. While web tools alone are not the solution, they do address many of the vexing problems of alienation and isolation that create a sense of hopelessness in the face of so much adversity. Online profiles lead to visibility, visibility leads to connection and a sense of community. Job opportunities can come as a tweet, and mentors can offer advice and wisdom from their BlackBerries.
It’s time to act.
We should all pay attention to this serious problem of youth unemployment. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to help them help us create the eventual recovery and a sustainable economy.