In the last Stats Canada Labour Force Survey, there was an interesting paragraph which parents with kids getting close to working age should take close notice:
Following a gain in March, employment for youths in April was little changed, and their unemployment rate remained at 13.9%. Youth employment has been little changed since July 2009.
If I am reading “youth” correctly that is folks under the age of 24, which includes new graduates from Colleges and Universities.
We (my wife and I) are learning first hand that the market for non-service oriented jobs is not as it was when I graduated from University. When I graduated the market was tight, but I did manage to get two job offers and have had it relatively easy (other than a one year hiatus after being laid off from Nortel), in terms of job searching.
My oldest daughter is now searching for any job right now, just to get on her feet and then hopes to find something interesting to do, but the prospects out there do seem to be quite slim right now. If she wishes to work at Wal-Mart, Starbucks or Loblaws, she could find many part-time jobs, which could try to stitch together to effectively work full-time in a group of part-time jobs (which strikes me as a great way to lose sleep while not making a lot of money).
The summer job seems to be a disappearing concept as well (unless you want to be a camp councillor, or a few other traditional summer jobs, you seem to be SOL). I can comment directly on Loblaws since both my daughters worked there, and they have changed their part-time so much that it is impossible for any part-time worker to get more than 22 hours a week, Â which means that even with summer jobs, kids need to try to get multiple jobs to make enough money for school in the fall.
Her university does have a job service to help out graduates, however, even on that board there is not a great deal which strikes me as a “career starting” job.
As I have said, having a Co-Op degree helps a great deal because you graduate with about 2 years experience (hopefully in your area), but if you have worked normal summer jobs, how does one find a job?
The other interesting question is how are these kids going to support themselves without a lot of job prospects out there? Did someone say the Bank of Mom and Dad? If you did, 50 points to you for the correct response.
Who has a job for them?
Anybody else out there with new grads who are having troubles finding a job?
Unemployment is always the most trouble problem in anyone’s life. I think to be hired for a job, there will need a little luck beside talents and qualifications. So if you’re still unemployed, you’re not lucky as others. So, don’t give up just because you’re unlucky.
I graduated high school right when things first started going downhill, and I spent four years looking for work. Aside from one temporary job which lasted six months, the only work I had came from filling in for my mother.
Presumably college graduates have better odds than I did, because I had many an interviewer lose interest upon hearing that I hadn’t been through college yet–despite the fact that college wasn’t very important for what I was applying for, and I already had working experience.