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Youth Unemployment (a parents lament)

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.

My wife and I have come to realize that the market for non-service-oriented jobs is vastly different from what it was when I graduated from University. Despite the tight job market, I managed to secure two job offers right out of college, and even after being laid off from Nortel, I have been able to stay afloat. The truth is that the job search process has not been easy, but I have learned to be assertive and persistent in my search for employment.

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 concept of summer jobs seems to be disappearing, except for a few traditional ones like camp counsellors. I can speak from experience about Loblaws, as my daughters used to work there, and they have changed their policy for part-time workers so much that it’s impossible for them to work more than 22 hours a week. This means that even with summer jobs, students need to try to get multiple jobs in order to earn 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 greatly 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.

Youth Unemployment
Who has a job for them?

Is anybody else out there with new grads who are having trouble finding a job?

Feel Free to Comment

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

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