I don’t think it would be a surprise to anyone on sharenotes.com if I were to say “unemployment is high”. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, even us college students know this much. The problem is, according to some economists, is that because we’ve lost some professions almost completely, a high rate of unemployment may not be going anywhere soon.
There are a few different reasons why this may be the case, most notably is the fact that some jobs are gone almost entirely. The auto industry is suffering massively as is the real estate / banking and constructions industries. These jobs which once were vital in motivating the economy are now most likely gone for good, or at best greatly reduced.
Unfortunately this massive joblessness causes the mother of all catch 22s. With fewer jobs, there are fewer incomes, and income = money. So less money into the economy to stimulate, may mean more layoffs. And so the cycle continues. Also those of us (not me!) that do have money are reticent to spend it. Retirement plans, investments and home equity are being obliterated as we speak. So those that probably can spend just won’t for fear of going broke. And rightly so, I’d probably hunker down too if I have any assets to protect!
So what does this all mean to us? Well luckily most people aren’t going to college with the aspirations of being in car sales, however we do need to more selective of what our future plans entail. We need to know the market we’ll be graduating into and perhaps the level of need and competition. For some of us changing majors are not necessarily an option, but as they say knowledge is power.
If we perhaps take stock of our situation, the economy and the joblessness vs. hiding our heads in the sand, we should have a fighting chance. I wonder though if anyone of you on sharenotes.com have been forced to 180 your professional plans based upon the flailing economy? I invite you to share your story here and further the discussion.
