NYT reports 37% of 18-29 year olds are unemployed Forum

[mallard]

Our generation is whiny, lazy, and feels entitled. It's seriously disappointing.

That may be true to some extent but there is so much more to it than that. There are so many differences in the economic factors at play today versus those faced by older generations. Foreign competition, mechanization of agriculture, etc. etc. etc.

Do you really think that 37% unemployment can be explained away by laziness? Is the guy applying for jobs over 2+ years lazy and whiny? Sure maybe he should have taken the 40k job, but keep in mind thats the ONLY OFFER he got. It's not like he was offered 8 or 9 40k jobs and turned them all down due to a sense of entitlement. He even says he looks back on it as a mistake.

I agree with you that the 37% cannot be explained all by laziness, but using scott to get the point across in the article was a bad move. By the end I did not feel sorry for him. He probably could have had more job offers but he was limiting himself to apply to only the ones he liked. I do not know what he was thinking applying to finance jobs when he did not major in some sort of business like major. Those jobs are hard to get for people who did major in finance accounting and econ let alone his major. It is hard to feel sorry for someone who turned down a job and lives off of his parents (he did not even have a part time job from what I gathered....just a rich white boy living off of his parents). With nothing on his resume for the last two years no wonder he has no offers. I just feel that the article could have interviewed someone else in that 37% and then this thread would have been very different.

And of course nobody has been found to fill those jobs he turned down.

[paratactical]

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[DaveBear07]

Being future lawyers, leadership should be something we are prepared to do.

Areas of change needed: Policy, Cultural, Social

Policy: renewable/sustainable energy, fiscal responsibility, job creation

Cultural: consumerism, greed, apathy, prejudice

Social: compassion, service, trust, love, community, responsibility, wisdom, virture, etc etc etc

lol. Yes, lawyers are known for inspiring trust and love.

haha very true.

those are more of a human being thing I guess.

[romothesavior]

This is how I view the job market in America:

You pay a ridiculous cover to get into a bar only to find out that everyone just left and you got stuck with the tab.

This is good.

I think we are really screwed. With the rapid advent of new technologies and the loss of American manufacturing jobs forever, I really see no way to create jobs at a sustainable level. We are royally, royally screwed. IMO, it isn't an issue of markets or consumer confidence or any of that crap... the long term issue is that there aren't enough legitimate jobs go around, and the gap between rich and poor will widen.

But idk crap about economics, so whateva...

[DaveBear07]

Have ya'll heard of "The Next 100 Years"?

http://www.amazon.com/Next-100-Years-Fo ... 038551705X

I skimmed it a year ago or so. He seemed to think this new century was going to be America's Century and eventually we'd be in a very ironic situation where 50 years from now we'll be begging people to come from Mexico to work here because our aging population will leave large amounts of jobs vacant.

But all of that was before the 'Great Recession' obviously. So maybe the book was just one big fail.

[nycparalegal]

This is how I view the job market in America:

You pay a ridiculous cover to get into a bar only to find out that everyone just left and you got stuck with the tab.

This is good.

I think we are really screwed. With the rapid advent of new technologies and the loss of American manufacturing jobs forever, I really see no way to create jobs at a sustainable level. We are royally, royally screwed. IMO, it isn't an issue of markets or consumer confidence or any of that crap... the long term issue is that there aren't enough legitimate jobs go around, and the gap between rich and poor will widen.

But idk crap about economics, so whateva...

It makes even more sense if in the above scenario you borrow money to pay the cover to enter the bar.

[pjo]

FWIW, there is some Russian professor that predicts the USA will break apart

(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html)

for the record this was just stupid. If anything, Russia is by far closer to disintergration than the U.S. I love when ppl put approximate dates on predictions...then you can come back and throw it in their face:
[Professore Panarin predicts that] Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces -- with Alaska reverting to Russian control.

This guy should have taken a page from Nostradamus and left it general.

[KingJames6]

Maybe if we stop outsourcing jobs/giving foreign companies tax breaks to set up manufacturing jobs on our soil which lead to the bankruptcy of American companies....

[seespotrun]

Maybe if we stop outsourcing jobs/giving foreign companies tax breaks to set up manufacturing jobs on our soil which lead to the bankruptcy of American companies....

Yea, globalization is terrible.

[D-ROCCA]

Do you really think that 37% unemployment can be explained away by laziness? Is the guy applying for jobs over 2+ years lazy and whiny? Sure maybe he should have taken the 40k job, but keep in mind thats the ONLY OFFER he got. It's not like he was offered 8 or 9 40k jobs and turned them all down due to a sense of entitlement. He even says he looks back on it as a mistake.

I think that my father and grandfather would have taken any job they could get until they found stable employment. They'd work at McDonalds or Target if necessary. I think people go to college because they don't know what else to do and see school as an end instead of a means to an end. The people I go to school have no work ethic and complain when things aren't handed to them, half of them have no idea why they're even there...

[KingJames6]

Do you really think that 37% unemployment can be explained away by laziness? Is the guy applying for jobs over 2+ years lazy and whiny? Sure maybe he should have taken the 40k job, but keep in mind thats the ONLY OFFER he got. It's not like he was offered 8 or 9 40k jobs and turned them all down due to a sense of entitlement. He even says he looks back on it as a mistake.

I think that my father and grandfather would have taken any job they could get until they found stable employment. They'd work at McDonalds or Target if necessary. I think people go to college because they don't know what else to do and see school as an end instead of a means to an end. The people I go to school have no work ethic and complain when things aren't handed to them, half of them have no idea why they're even there...

This is true...maybe this recession will be our wakeup call.

[JTX]

Do you really think that 37% unemployment can be explained away by laziness? Is the guy applying for jobs over 2+ years lazy and whiny? Sure maybe he should have taken the 40k job, but keep in mind thats the ONLY OFFER he got. It's not like he was offered 8 or 9 40k jobs and turned them all down due to a sense of entitlement. He even says he looks back on it as a mistake.

I think that my father and grandfather would have taken any job they could get until they found stable employment. They'd work at McDonalds or Target if necessary. I think people go to college because they don't know what else to do and see school as an end instead of a means to an end. The people I go to school have no work ethic and complain when things aren't handed to them, half of them have no idea why they're even there...

work? i'm on unemployment, state sponsored health insurance and food stamps. lol @ working at Target or Mickey D's.

[paratactical]

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[truffleshuffle]

Do you really think that 37% unemployment can be explained away by laziness? Is the guy applying for jobs over 2+ years lazy and whiny? Sure maybe he should have taken the 40k job, but keep in mind thats the ONLY OFFER he got. It's not like he was offered 8 or 9 40k jobs and turned them all down due to a sense of entitlement. He even says he looks back on it as a mistake.

I think that my father and grandfather would have taken any job they could get until they found stable employment. They'd work at McDonalds or Target if necessary. I think people go to college because they don't know what else to do and see school as an end instead of a means to an end. The people I go to school have no work ethic and complain when things aren't handed to them, half of them have no idea why they're even there...

This is true...maybe this recession will be our wakeup call.

Doubt it, half the kids I go to school are too busy with Facebook and texting to see whats happening in the real world.

[Patriot1208]

Do you really think that 37% unemployment can be explained away by laziness? Is the guy applying for jobs over 2+ years lazy and whiny? Sure maybe he should have taken the 40k job, but keep in mind thats the ONLY OFFER he got. It's not like he was offered 8 or 9 40k jobs and turned them all down due to a sense of entitlement. He even says he looks back on it as a mistake.

I think that my father and grandfather would have taken any job they could get until they found stable employment. They'd work at McDonalds or Target if necessary. I think people go to college because they don't know what else to do and see school as an end instead of a means to an end. The people I go to school have no work ethic and complain when things aren't handed to them, half of them have no idea why they're even there...

This is true...maybe this recession will be our wakeup call.

Doubt it, half the kids I go to school are too busy with Facebook and texting to see whats happening in the real world.

lol, ya facebook and texting = bad. TLS = proper use of time

[romothesavior]

Do you really think that 37% unemployment can be explained away by laziness? Is the guy applying for jobs over 2+ years lazy and whiny? Sure maybe he should have taken the 40k job, but keep in mind thats the ONLY OFFER he got. It's not like he was offered 8 or 9 40k jobs and turned them all down due to a sense of entitlement. He even says he looks back on it as a mistake.

I think that my father and grandfather would have taken any job they could get until they found stable employment. They'd work at McDonalds or Target if necessary. I think people go to college because they don't know what else to do and see school as an end instead of a means to an end. The people I go to school have no work ethic and complain when things aren't handed to them, half of them have no idea why they're even there...

TBF, most people's parents would throw a shit fit if they didn't go to college. I know it wasn't much of an option for me when I was 17.

[General Tso]

Do you really think that 37% unemployment can be explained away by laziness? Is the guy applying for jobs over 2+ years lazy and whiny? Sure maybe he should have taken the 40k job, but keep in mind thats the ONLY OFFER he got. It's not like he was offered 8 or 9 40k jobs and turned them all down due to a sense of entitlement. He even says he looks back on it as a mistake.

I think that my father and grandfather would have taken any job they could get until they found stable employment. They'd work at McDonalds or Target if necessary. I think people go to college because they don't know what else to do and see school as an end instead of a means to an end. The people I go to school have no work ethic and complain when things aren't handed to them, half of them have no idea why they're even there...

I kind of agree with what you are saying, but I don't know how practical it is today. Besides the obvious problems of low pay, no career advancement, no skills to be learned, and resume stain, you now have this concept of being 'overqualified' for those kinds of positions. Why should target or mcdonald's hire a recent college grad who will leave ASAP when you have stacks of applications from HS grads? Even places like these worry about employee turnover.

[GATORTIM]

good thing that I will be 30 in a little over four months

[Stringer Bell]

I'm trying to get a handle on the 37% number. It says 37% of those who are 18-29 do not have jobs, but current college students would comprise some portion of that percentage, right?

[GATORTIM]

--ImageRemoved--

[romothesavior]

The dude featured in the story looked for a job for two years, finally got offered a 40k/year job for an insurance company, and he declined. Wow.

I'm actually sort of offended that the NYT would pick this guy to highlight. It makes our generation look incredibly lazy and arrogant (which to some degree we are), but it does not do justice to the dozens of very bright, very motivated friends of mine who would kill for a salary job.

[General Tso]

I'm trying to get a handle on the 37% number. It says 37% of those who are 18-29 do not have jobs, but current college students would comprise some portion of that percentage, right?

yeah it does include higher ed students. you have to keep in mind that number has also risen because many people are escaping the bad economy by returning to school.

if you want to look at just those who have some college and are still unemployed, there is a second chart "college educated 20 to 34 year olds" which shows that around 15-17% of them are unemployed.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/ ... ef=economy

the bottom chart is also interesting...the % of young people returning to live with their parents is significantly on the rise.

[romothesavior]

If I was an employer and that pansy ass Scott Nicholson came into my office, I'd tell him to GTFO. I'm really angry after reading this article.

[badwithpseudonyms]

I think that my father and grandfather would have taken any job they could get until they found stable employment. They'd work at McDonalds or Target if necessary. I think people go to college because they don't know what else to do and see school as an end instead of a means to an end. The people I go to school have no work ethic and complain when things aren't handed to them, half of them have no idea why they're even there...

Our generation is getting the fucking shaft and most of you are bitching about each other?! Blame the baby boomers! They're the ones who really fucked shit up. The deck is stacked against our generation.

But what do I know? I'm just a lazy poli sci major from a LAC, with no work ethic and a sense of entitlement.

[romothesavior]

I think that my father and grandfather would have taken any job they could get until they found stable employment. They'd work at McDonalds or Target if necessary. I think people go to college because they don't know what else to do and see school as an end instead of a means to an end. The people I go to school have no work ethic and complain when things aren't handed to them, half of them have no idea why they're even there...

Our generation is getting the fucking shaft and most of you are bitching about each other?! Blame the baby boomers! They're the ones who really fucked shit up. The deck is stacked against our generation.

But what do I know? I'm just a lazy poli sci major from a LAC, with no work ethic and a sense of entitlement.

I fall somewhere in the middle of this one. Yes, we have gotten ROYALLY shafted. But reading stories like the one in the OP really makes me hate our generation too.

That doucher in the article got "emotional" when considering that his job offer was worse than his brothers and only paid 40k. Do you know how many people I know who started out in claims in insurance who now make six figures and do REALLY well? What a douche.