Survey says 2010 grads will face horrible job prospects
Filed under: Money College, Career
Michigan State University's College Employment Research Institute's latest graduate job outlook is pretty bleak. This year's college graduates have a mind-boggling 40% fewer job prospects, and jobs for candidates with bachelor's degrees are expected to drop by 1% in 2010.
Eighty percent of employers won't be offering higher starting salaries, and 8% will lower starting pay by an average of 5%. Twelve percent will increase starting pay by an average of just 3%.
Signing bonuses and performance bonuses are also on the decline -- understandable given that there is so little competition to woo recent grads.
Adding to employment woes for recent college graduates is the 10.2% national unemployment rate -- which means that young people will have to compete with older candidates with years of experience and families to feed. As the rising number of unemployed workers cycle through the unemployment system, they'll become increasingly desperate for income, making the situation even worse for recent grads.
So what's a grad to do? One short-term solution may be to pour energy into finding freelance and temp opportunities. Independent contractors often lament the lack of benefits but for young single people, it's just not that important.
You can buy your own health insurance for a few hundred dollars a month. Indeed, young single people who work at full-time jobs with benefits are, in effect, subsidizing their co-workers who have large families and consequently large health insurance costs.
Another idea for recent grads: recognize that the job you work in the crappiest job market in a long, long time might not have a lot to do with your long-term career. If all you can get is an unpaid internship in the field of your choice and find yourself working six nights a week at WalMart to make ends meet, that won't kill you.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-19-2009 @ 12:59PM
Connie said...
I hear washington is hiring Arabs for the CIA!!! New commericals will be airing soon! I'm sure they'll have to import them from other countries to fill the positions! More new visas on the way folks! But for the average LEGAL AMERICAN citizen, no jobs to be found!
Reply
11-21-2009 @ 8:51PM
mich said...
SOOOO true! My daughter graduated college this year and there's no work to be found, yet the loans are coming due and some of them you can't defer. Then there's the problem of no insurance for them right away, as there's no work to be found to GET insurance. In FL there's no work and even at McD's they only hire illegals and those that speak Spanish. At Liberty Medical, they are letting tons of people go because they are sending all the jobs to India and every corporation around here is doing the same thing, yet no jobs for CITIZENS! This country has gone to HELL!
11-20-2009 @ 5:46AM
Jenny Hargreaves said...
I know that a lot of parents have sponsored their graduate kids to go on intensive job-hunting coaching programmes offered by organisations such as http://www.jobsforgrads.co.uk – and they are quickly getting jobs at top companies in the world
Reply
11-26-2009 @ 3:37PM
Angry said...
I know that many are buying this to stop WASTING money because of these traffic light bandits that take pictures of people when THEY ARE ONLY TRYING TO BE SAFE!!
Look at this:
See why driving is NOT SO SCARY anymore. This product is found on Craigslist, Miami/Florida,"for sale","car parts". This person is quite happy:
"Thanks Communicator4U@Rocketmail.com. Thanks for having a device that I can use at my discretion that will keep me from having trouble when I'm FORCED into a traffic intersection by a tailing car OR THE QUICKER YELLOW LIGHTS - SET UP BY THE COMPANY WHO GETS HALF OF THE MONEY FROM EACH OF THE TICKETS THAT ARE ILLEGALLY ISSUED BY THE POLICE. I'm on a fixed income and I don't have money to throw away like these people who claim that these cameras are for "public safety". YEA, RIGHT!! No one should run a red light!! But now, because everyone is so scared of getting a ticket THEY WILL SPEED UP BEFORE THEY NORMALLY WOULD, which means they will end up SPEEDING THROUGH AN INTERSECTION THAT THEY NORMALLY WOULD JUST TRY TO DRIVE THROUGH -- THE RESULT IS A MORE DANGEROUS INTERSECTION THAN BEFORE!!! Or, since everyone is scared people are BRAKING BEFORE THE INTERSECTION, STOPPING BEFORE OR AT THE EXACT MOMENT OF A YELLOW LIGHT, and WILL CAUSE THOSE BEHIND THEM TO CRASH INTO THEM -- RESULT IS ANOTHER DANGEROUS MOMENT. So, like the other day, as I drove into an intersection with a jerk tailgaiting me I was forced to go through the yellow/red light as THEY TURNED TO THE RIGHT WHERE THERE IS NO CAMERAS TO SEE THAT HE REALLY RAN A RED LIGHT BUT I GOT PHOTOED!!! Now I don't worry. Even though the seller says not to use it this way, or to use it when going through toll booths, it says that if I do then it's on me so I'll take that chance -- because there are no police there OR THEY WOULD BE WRITING TICKETS FOR THE NORMAL VIOLATIONS. The cost of this is so reasonable and I will use it the way I want to -- I'm not going to waste anymore money that I don't have.
Thank you."
11-20-2009 @ 7:52AM
kakalee006 said...
66 http://www.brandmavin.com
Best online store
---**** NHL Jersey Woman $ 40 ---**** NFL Jersey $ 35
66 http://www.brandmavin.com
Reply
12-21-2009 @ 11:02PM
Another One Bites the Dust said...
The problem here is that no one has even mentioned the better alternative of self-employment. The emphasis should not be on getting a job but making your own job through self-employment. I simply do not understand why people don't get this...I guess it's just too much work, isn't it?
Reply