Abysmal Job Prospects for 2009 College Graduates

The future’s not looking too bright

Today more than ever, a college degree does not equate to instant money.  In fact, most new college graduates will be struggling to scrape together cash till payday.  According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the “numbers are bleak.”

Businesses are hiring 22 percent fewer new graduates than last year – and last year wasn’t a great year for college-graduate jobs, either. “Not only is the economy not growing, it’s retracting,” said NACE spokesman Edwin Koch. “It’s an abysmal employment market,” he said, softening that just a little by adding that this doesn’t mean recent graduates won’t ever find the jobs they want, “only that it will take longer.”

Entering the workforce during a recession has lasting effects

Unfortunately, the effects of the current economic climate are likely to continue even after the new wave of graduates finds jobs. Entering the workforce during a recession can have negative effects on earnings over the entire course of a career. According to a study by Yale School of Management economist Lisa Kahn, “even those who land jobs will likely suffer lower wages for a decade or more compared with those lucky enough to graduate in better times.”

Taking less long-term

Analyzing data from the recession of the early 1980s, Kahn determined that an annual increase of just 1 percent in the unemployment rate correlated with an 8 percent reduction in earnings for new college graduates. Twelve years after graduating in the recession years, employees were still earning an average of about 5 percent less than employees who entered the workforce just before or after they did. Eighteen years after graduation, their earnings still averaged 2 percent less.

Trading Wall Street for the halls of government

The present economic curtailment doesn’t just affect earnings for graduates, it affects lifetime career choices. Wall Street is no longer an irresistible option for the best and brightest young job-seekers. Instead, today’s graduates are aspiring public servants focusing on careers in government, health, and technology. The bottom line is that, like the rest of the American workforce, college graduates are taking whatever jobs they can find.

Taking time off

New graduates who can afford to are taking unpaid internships in the hope that they’ll be hired full time when the economy turns around. Others are staying in school a few years longer. According to Koch, this year’s top graduate schools “are already tracking double-digit increases” in applications. Those who cannot afford to mark time while the economy recovers, however, are scrambling for jobs in the worst market we’ve seen in over 25 years.