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Let me explain something to you who grew up in this generation: the job market has always been hyper competitive.
I have no doubt that the market for good jobs is an inherently competitive arena, but I doubt it has ever reached the level of competitiveness that it is at today. My jaw drops when I hear the older generation talk about how they walked into a high-paying job at IBM or Microsoft after getting a Bachelors in English. If they graduated today, they would be working as a barista.
I could teach everyone a skill in the trades that at one time paid $120,000 a year net.
With the illegal labor lowering bar and turning good skilled jobs into a commodity today, that same skill may bring in $40,000 a year net.
Illegal immigration became a tidal wave in the 80's and peaked in 2006, with the housing bubble. Who built and/ or renovated the tens of millions of homes during the bubble? It's been the greatest handout to small business. In my neck of the woods it's a revolving door of skilled and unskilled Eastern Europeans who arrive on tourist visas. Some over stay their visa. Others return home, rinse and repeat.
Only 4 states have mandated use of e- Verify. Of all the current and former governors who want to run for president in 2016, not one has used their muscle to make e- Verify the law in their state. Not one. Why is this?
So yeah, let's deficit spend $ hundreds of billions finishing and maintaining the border fence and hire 20,000 more border patrol at $ 90,000 ( state Governors take a bow for increased temporary employment on the federal dime) a crack and continue to ignore the root cause of illegal immigration- employment.
OP"My jaw drops when I hear the older generation talk about how they walked into a high-paying job at IBM or Microsoft after getting a Bachelors in English. If they graduated today, they would be working as a barista."
Nonsense; most grads still work in professional environments after graduating. Working as a barista as the norm largely was only a short-term Great Recession function.
Now no one walks in today. Networking is 2015's "just walked into ".
I have no doubt that the market for good jobs is an inherently competitive arena, but I doubt it has ever reached the level of competitiveness that it is at today. My jaw drops when I hear the older generation talk about how they walked into a high-paying job at IBM or Microsoft after getting a Bachelors in English. If they graduated today, they would be working as a barista.
Education at in state schools was intensely competitive back then as it is now. The major did not matter as much as the degree. In state tuition has been increasingly offset with full tuition foreign students.
High paying jobs is a relative term. Most jobs then and now do not require a technical degree. The guy who has the skill to bring in commercial business, does not need an engineering degree. The guy who has a vision for the next product, is not likely going to know how to create it. The guy who knows how to position product versus the competition, is not the builder. Most people do not have an apptitude for STEM, here, there or everywhere.
Some go the barista route and some choose different paths. Some are willing to relocate and some are not.
Same deal, everywhere.
OP"My jaw drops when I hear the older generation talk about how they walked into a high-paying job at IBM or Microsoft after getting a Bachelors in English. If they graduated today, they would be working as a barista."
Nonsense; most grads still work in professional environments after graduating. Working as a barista as the norm largely was only a short-term Great Recession function.
Now no one walks in today. Networking is 2015's "just walked into ".
I think the mindset that the babyboom walked into a plethora of high paying jobs is a myth perpetuated by a minority of subsequent generations stuck in " why bother" mode. Those jobs were not as high paying as some perceive and so many of those job functions that once existed have long since been replaced by automation.
I agree that with the exception of the Great Recession, a blip in time, most qualified grads have landed on their feet.
Lefties need to make up their minds.....is the economy under the current resident at 1600 improving greatly as you sometimes say, or does the job market still suck?
The job market sucks for some of the people, some of the time, in all times, no matter who sits the oval or holds the majority.
The 50's is generally considered a prosperous period. There was limited global competition. Unions and the GI Bill lifted the masses out of poverty. Yet, 20% of the people lived in dire poverty and likely perceived the Great Depression never ended.
By the mid 60's the US began to feel pressure from global competition.Who was willing to pay a premium to sustain the U.S. middle class when there were alternative labor markets looking to lift themselves out of poverty?
The job market sucks for some of the people, some of the time, in all times, no matter who sits the oval or holds the majority.
Back in the 50's, generally considered a prosperous period. There was limited global competition. Unions and the GI Bill lifted the masses out of poverty. Yet, 20% of the people lived in dire poverty and likely perceived the Great Depression never ended.
There was limited global competition because most of the world was a war torn wasteland. Despite the popular narrative, WW2 was one of the best things to ever happen to America.
Actually, Supachai, What make WWII great for America was the GI Bill, where we vastly increased our rate of college graduates as percentage of population.
Now we rank just 12th globally, after once leading that vital metric.
I'll leave my standard agreement to disagree with you, since past debates prove you and I couldn't think more differently if we got cash prizes to do so.
Bottom line, people that want jobs get them, people that don't want them make excuses. It's not difficult to understand.
Right because if their is no jobs there they just magically "appear". Must be nice to live in the fantasy land you and other Right Wingers live in where there are jobs for everyone and everyone can move up to better jobs.
I have no doubt that the market for good jobs is an inherently competitive arena, but I doubt it has ever reached the level of competitiveness that it is at today. My jaw drops when I hear the older generation talk about how they walked into a high-paying job at IBM or Microsoft after getting a Bachelors in English. If they graduated today, they would be working as a barista.
There were many fewer people with bachelors degrees then. Higher education was intended for those who were A) Drawn to a certain field which required it, B) Had a passion for what they studied, C) Were intellectually gifted or D) Were wealthy and wanted to become universal.
If you are none of the above, but attended college without having a calling, a passion or the money to attend, you'll be a barista.
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