As if we need any more proof that we’ve all hit hard times, Business Week focuses on the trouble young people are having finding employment.
I’ve heard enough stories about recent college graduates lucky to get part time jobs in the fast food industry. It’s bad. The money isn’t flowing — or what little we have is all flowing to pay off the credit card industry.
Americans would be wise to abandon the credit card industry. Pay them off, and tear them up. They are absolute bastards. All of them.
Bright, eager—and unwanted. While unemployment is ravaging just about every part of the global workforce, the most enduring harm is being done to young people who can’t grab onto the first rung of the career ladder.
Affected are a range of young people, from high school dropouts, to college grads, to newly minted lawyers and MBAs across the developed world from Britain to Japan. One indication: In the U.S., the unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds has climbed to more than 18%, from 13% a year ago.
For people just starting their careers, the damage may be deep and long-lasting, potentially creating a kind of "lost generation." Studies suggest that an extended period of youthful joblessness can significantly depress lifetime income as people get stuck in jobs that are beneath their capabilities, or come to be seen by employers as damaged goods.