Phoenix Area Job Market (Congress: condos, credit card, loans)
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There won't be. College graduates are rarely the entrepreneur type, and even if they were they more than likely don't have the capital to start something anyway. So in order to keep bright minds and ideas here in the young who have no capital, someone needs to help get them the capital. AKA a job. It's the circle of life, I suppose.
Many people want to stay but it's extremely dismal for my generation. If you aren't in something like business or direct healthcare (nursing) then it is even more dismal here.
There's a recent article on this very topic, it's called brain drain. It focuses on the % of college graduates that are retained after graduation, presumably working in the city/state that invested in their education. The original data set included GCU and UoP in the calculation, which ranked Phoenix last among big metro areas. When they were challenged with the fact that most UoP and many GCU students never resided in Arizona in the first place they noted it and another analyst put together data just for ASU and UA, which concludedthis:
"Bagley said 284,000 students graduated from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University over the past 15 years. Data from the Maricopa Association of Governments and Arizona Commerce Authority show more than 69 percent of those graduates still live in Arizona."
By comparison New York, one of the top states retains 71% of their graduates.
So maybe your class is worse off or there's some exaggeration happening, almost all of us struggle to get jobs out of school and by the way, a lot of us started in that $12-$15 an hour range and worked our way up from there. You don't graduate and instantly get a 6-figure job, or even a $50K job for that matter. You still have to go prove yourself, what you have right now is a piece of paper. Now it's time to prove those skills can be translated into something valuable.
There's a recent article on this very topic, it's called brain drain. It focuses on the % of college graduates that are retained after graduation, presumably working in the city/state that invested in their education. The original data set included GCU and UoP in the calculation, which ranked Phoenix last among big metro areas. When they were challenged with the fact that most UoP and many GCU students never resided in Arizona in the first place they noted it and another analyst put together data just for ASU and UA, which concludedthis:
"Bagley said 284,000 students graduated from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University over the past 15 years. Data from the Maricopa Association of Governments and Arizona Commerce Authority show more than 69 percent of those graduates still live in Arizona."
By comparison New York, one of the top states retains 71% of their graduates.
So maybe your class is worse off or there's some exaggeration happening, almost all of us struggle to get jobs out of school and by the way, a lot of us started in that $12-$15 an hour range and worked our way up from there. You don't graduate and instantly get a 6-figure job, or even a $50K job for that matter. You still have to go prove yourself, what you have right now is a piece of paper. Now it's time to prove those skills can be translated into something valuable.
They fixed one problem by creating another. NAU no longer a college? ASU has a larger online presence than GCU does so you'd have to exclude them too.
Either way, and this board loves to do this, no need to explain away a problem readily assessable. It's a hard market for entry level positions in most fields, it's been that way for decades and as long as we continue the call center/home building economy it's will always be that way.
It was the same when I went to college, some stayed most left.
UA has a particular drain issue because of Tucsons economy.
I just saw on Indeed a position that requires a minimum of an Associate's, a Bachelor's preferred (and will probably get) for a job in my desired field paying a range of $12-15 an hour. Entry-level job.
They fixed one problem by creating another. NAU no longer a college? ASU has a larger online presence than GCU does so you'd have to exclude them too.
Either way, and this board loves to do this, no need to explain away a problem readily assessable. It's a hard market for entry level positions in most fields, it's been that way for decades and as long as we continue the call center/home building economy it's will always be that way.
It was the same when I went to college, some stayed most left.
UA has a particular drain issue because of Tucsons economy.
This^^^^^^! Man, I wish it weren't true, but for now it is. I see the state trying to diversify the economy (albeit slowly) which it desperately needs to do. For many (especially retirees), Phoenix/Arizona is a wonderful option. For graduates it's much more of a challenge. Change is happening, though.
They fixed one problem by creating another. NAU no longer a college? ASU has a larger online presence than GCU does so you'd have to exclude them too.
Either way, and this board loves to do this, no need to explain away a problem readily assessable. It's a hard market for entry level positions in most fields, it's been that way for decades and as long as we continue the call center/home building economy it's will always be that way.
It was the same when I went to college, some stayed most left.
UA has a particular drain issue because of Tucsons economy.
Yes Tucson is much worse, as 4th poorest city in the whole nation, that's expected.
I agree on Arizona's economy, it could do so much better. We have a presence outside of that obviously but it's very minor.
I haven't understood this a lot because Phoenix is the largest desert city, and in comparison to the other desert cities in this country, has the best job market, ability to attract employees, etc. and no one has tried to maximize this. We have the best climate for aircraft (lots of sun, clear, big skies, good for tests, cheap here), best climate for solar power (yet most jobs for this are still in the Bay Area, I mean the engineering jobs, lots of sales jobs for solar in Arizona for obvious reasons)... Yet Arizona still fails. I think Phoenix could work on trying to get a hold of one industry in particular and not necessarily specialize but be the HQ for that particular industry, think Silicon Valley. Of course Phoenix will never be a giant tech hub as other cities have already filled that but we can be a hub for something else.
Also, isn't it strange how the Phoenix universities have capitalized on online education? Maybe that's our big thing... University of Phoenix, Grand Canyon, ASU, all have some of the largest online education programs in the country.
Yes Tucson is much worse, as 4th poorest city in the whole nation, that's expected.
I agree on Arizona's economy, it could do so much better. We have a presence outside of that obviously but it's very minor.
I haven't understood this a lot because Phoenix is the largest desert city, and in comparison to the other desert cities in this country, has the best job market, ability to attract employees, etc. and no one has tried to maximize this. We have the best climate for aircraft (lots of sun, clear, big skies, good for tests, cheap here), best climate for solar power (yet most jobs for this are still in the Bay Area, I mean the engineering jobs, lots of sales jobs for solar in Arizona for obvious reasons)... Yet Arizona still fails. I think Phoenix could work on trying to get a hold of one industry in particular and not necessarily specialize but be the HQ for that particular industry, think Silicon Valley. Of course Phoenix will never be a giant tech hub as other cities have already filled that but we can be a hub for something else.
Also, isn't it strange how the Phoenix universities have capitalized on online education? Maybe that's our big thing... University of Phoenix, Grand Canyon, ASU, all have some of the largest online education programs in the country.
There are three major reasons why Phoenix falls short in maximizing its job market compared to other similarly-large metropolitan areas.
A poorly-funded school system.
Too many lower-paying service-oriented jobs and not enough higher-paying skilled jobs.
A legislature full of knuckleheads who are more interested in passing gun bills and immigration laws than the higher-priority matters.
All these are statewide issues and they all seem to go hand in hand, but they affect the Phoenix economy in a less-than-positive way.
I agree 100% as I moved out here originally to take an inside sales position with the Arizona Cardinals football team. It paid $9 an hour. I was struggling so hard to make ends meet but knew what I was getting into in order to gain some experience and have something, anything to put on a resume after graduating from the UofA in the hopes that I could move on to bigger and better things. Zero opportunity to move up, thus forcing me to work an inside sales position in the logistics industry paying $14 an hour. Zero opportunity to move up and rigged commissions structure, thus forcing me to take another $14 an hour inside sales job with another criminal...I mean third party logistics company. On and on the perpetual cycle of mediocre opportunity goes, all the while feeling trapped because as you scour the internet job boards day in and day out for opportunities in Phoenix to try and escape from the professional garbage can you find yourself in, what do you find? Yet another $12-$14 inside sales call center job where human beings are treated like farm equipment and either worked to the bone and quit, or are worked to the bone and fired to make room for a new fresh faced crew of impressionable 23-28 year olds who have been promised the stars but have been handed a turd sandwich. BTW these aren't small companies either. I have worked for the largest trucking company in Phoenix (absolute joke of an outfit), and 2 publicly traded, multi billion dollar third party logistics companies. I implore any person who even thinks of starting a "career" in third party logistics to reconsider. Inside sales too for that matter as it seems that door only leads to other bottom level doors. Knowing what I know now, I would have much rather been the buildings janitor for $14 an hour. At least that would have taught me a skill and given me hands on work experience.
I haven't understood this a lot because Phoenix is the largest desert city, and in comparison to the other desert cities in this country, has the best job market, ability to attract employees, etc. and no one has tried to maximize this. We have the best climate for aircraft (lots of sun, clear, big skies, good for tests, cheap here), best climate for solar power (yet most jobs for this are still in the Bay Area, I mean the engineering jobs, lots of sales jobs for solar in Arizona for obvious reasons)... Yet Arizona still fails. I think Phoenix could work on trying to get a hold of one industry in particular and not necessarily specialize but be the HQ for that particular industry, think Silicon Valley. Of course Phoenix will never be a giant tech hub as other cities have already filled that but we can be a hub for something else.
Significantly revising your TPT would be a very good start.
I don't know too much about the job market as it is since I'm going to be a transplant in about 2 weeks but, isn't what most of the stuff people have said here is true across most of the country even at larger cities? Most of the workforce is made up of lower paid positions with about 75% of the entire population making an annual salary of less than $75K. (Census Bureau Statistics, Distribution of Income) Even in large cities most workers are lower paid. There exists more higher paying jobs to be had of course but with a larger city comes with increased competition and a higher cost of living. It's a give and take.
I will going along with what another person posted though, it could also be that education isn't highly valued in the state and that needs to change. ASU has tremendous potential and more than enough faculty/research staff to make it one of the premier universities in the southwest, the state and residents just needs to realize that, invest in it, and value what education brings.
I will also agree with another poster that said, you have to be in the right field. Yes, but I'd say it's partially true. In general, what I see lacking (not just in AZ but across the country) is a small student population pursuing studies in the professions (lawyers, physicians, psychologists, certified public accountants, pharmacists, optometrists, dentists, engineers, professors, architects, etc...) vs. other fields. Those kinds of jobs will exist in almost all major cities and they're highly paid. But what I don't understand it, why don't more students pursue it/make it through? I'm an engineer myself and I hold a MS in Electrical Engineering and the program was tough, the BS program was tougher in my opinion, but it's not impossible, professors want to pass you, you just need to give an average effort at most. Maybe students need to realize what they think is hard work isn't hard enough lol. When I was doing a job search in Phoenix, I landed a job pretty easily I would say given I'm an out of state resident. Took about 2 months of job hunting/interviews/etc. to get an offer.
I agree 100% as I moved out here originally to take an inside sales position with the Arizona Cardinals football team. It paid $9 an hour. I was struggling so hard to make ends meet but knew what I was getting into in order to gain some experience and have something, anything to put on a resume after graduating from the UofA in the hopes that I could move on to bigger and better things. Zero opportunity to move up, thus forcing me to work an inside sales position in the logistics industry paying $14 an hour. Zero opportunity to move up and rigged commissions structure, thus forcing me to take another $14 an hour inside sales job with another criminal...I mean third party logistics company. On and on the perpetual cycle of mediocre opportunity goes, all the while feeling trapped because as you scour the internet job boards day in and day out for opportunities in Phoenix to try and escape from the professional garbage can you find yourself in, what do you find? Yet another $12-$14 inside sales call center job where human beings are treated like farm equipment and either worked to the bone and quit, or are worked to the bone and fired to make room for a new fresh faced crew of impressionable 23-28 year olds who have been promised the stars but have been handed a turd sandwich. BTW these aren't small companies either. I have worked for the largest trucking company in Phoenix (absolute joke of an outfit), and 2 publicly traded, multi billion dollar third party logistics companies. I implore any person who even thinks of starting a "career" in third party logistics to reconsider. Inside sales too for that matter as it seems that door only leads to other bottom level doors. Knowing what I know now, I would have much rather been the buildings janitor for $14 an hour. At least that would have taught me a skill and given me hands on work experience.
Yikes! Do you still live here?
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