By: Daniel Nardini
Because of the bad economy, people these days are taking any job they can get. It is better than no work and no pay. Many people, including many college students, have to pay not only for their bills and food but also pay for getting something better. College students especially are going through higher education in the hope this will increase their chances for getting better paying jobs and choice positions. Yet there is a disturbing statistic many politicians in Washington, D.C. do not look at. This is the under-employment of people with one or more college diplomas. According to a study conducted by the non-profit Center for College Affordability and Productivity, almost one-half of all college graduates are under-employed. What this means is that many people are working at jobs that do not require a college diploma.
Many of the jobs that many college graduates are working at only require a high school diploma. This is disturbing. It means that we have a growing number of people who should be in jobs with high pay, need people with specific skills, and need people with the qualifications that took them years to get. This is not happening. A good part of the problem is that the economy is simply not producing the high paying, choice jobs that should be there for college graduates. Of course, with how bad the economy is, the private sector is hardly producing any jobs at all. This means that college graduates must fight for the jobs that are available now—regardless of what qualifications they have. But this leaves those with high school diplomas without too many options.
Then there are jobs where there are not enough applicants. Jobs in accountancy, engineering, green technology, etc., are not being filled because there are not enough people pursuing such careers. Nevertheless, these careers are more the exception than the rule. According to the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, there are more college graduates than ever in jobs that only need high school diplomas. In 1970, only 1 percent of all taxi drivers and 2 percent of firefighters had college diplomas. Today that figure is 15 percent of all taxi drivers and 18 percent of all firefighters. At that time (1970), there were no college graduates to speak of employed as janitors. Now, five percent of college graduates are working as janitors. The numbers speak for themselves—people who should be the movers and shakers in a dynamic economy are unable to get the choice jobs because the economy is still largely flat. This is a problem that has yet to be addressed at the local level, the state level, and the national level. We as a nation cannot indefinitely keep under-employing our best and brightest. It is waste of their resources, and this country’s resources, to not grow the jobs these people need and should fill.
The Education-Labor Disconnect
By: Daniel Nardini
Many of the jobs that many college graduates are working at only require a high school diploma. This is disturbing. It means that we have a growing number of people who should be in jobs with high pay, need people with specific skills, and need people with the qualifications that took them years to get. This is not happening. A good part of the problem is that the economy is simply not producing the high paying, choice jobs that should be there for college graduates. Of course, with how bad the economy is, the private sector is hardly producing any jobs at all. This means that college graduates must fight for the jobs that are available now—regardless of what qualifications they have. But this leaves those with high school diplomas without too many options.
Then there are jobs where there are not enough applicants. Jobs in accountancy, engineering, green technology, etc., are not being filled because there are not enough people pursuing such careers. Nevertheless, these careers are more the exception than the rule. According to the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, there are more college graduates than ever in jobs that only need high school diplomas. In 1970, only 1 percent of all taxi drivers and 2 percent of firefighters had college diplomas. Today that figure is 15 percent of all taxi drivers and 18 percent of all firefighters. At that time (1970), there were no college graduates to speak of employed as janitors. Now, five percent of college graduates are working as janitors. The numbers speak for themselves—people who should be the movers and shakers in a dynamic economy are unable to get the choice jobs because the economy is still largely flat. This is a problem that has yet to be addressed at the local level, the state level, and the national level. We as a nation cannot indefinitely keep under-employing our best and brightest. It is waste of their resources, and this country’s resources, to not grow the jobs these people need and should fill.