One in Two New College Graduates Is Jobless or Underemployed

By Lily Altavena

One in two new college graduates is jobless or underemployed, The Associated Press reported this week.

According to the article, job prospects were at their lowest for bachelor’s degree-holders last year. This is especially worrisome for those students with only a six-month grace period to begin repaying student loans, many of whom are turning to mom and dad for financial help.

The article was based on an analysis of government data, which found that graduates were likely to struggle to find work applicable to their major, especially if they had studied the humanities or the arts. According the data, graduates with science, education and health degrees may have an easier time finding a position.

Some graduates are also finding a tough time to find work based on their region: graduates from rural states, in particular, suffer the most.

The Associated Press reports:

About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields.

Broken down by occupation, young college graduates were heavily represented in jobs that require a high school diploma or less.

In the last year, they were more likely to be employed as waiters, waitresses, bartenders and food-service helpers than as engineers, physicists, chemists and mathematicians combined (100,000 versus 90,000). There were more working in office-related jobs such as receptionist or payroll clerk than in all computer professional jobs (163,000 versus 100,000). More also were employed as cashiers, retail clerks and customer representatives than engineers (125,000 versus 80,000).

According to government projections released last month, only three of the 30 occupations with the largest projected number of job openings by 2020 will require a bachelor’s degree or higher to fill the position — teachers, college professors and accountants. Most job openings are in professions such as retail sales, fast food and truck driving, jobs which aren’t easily replaced by computers.

Are readers of The Choice concerned about diminishing job prospects for college graduates? Let us know in the comment box below.

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Tomian April 27, 2012 · 9:47 pm

The AP stats are underwhelming. The groupings of degree vs no-degree-required jobs don’t tell much. I imagine that there are more bank tellers than neurosurgeons as well, but so what? I understand the point of the post, but there are better ways to illustrate them. For instance, how many graduates under 25 received computer science or engineering degrees vs the amount employed in their fields? And what are those numbers for humanities students?

I would also note that if the trend continues, there will be far fewer college professors by 2020.

Finally, retail sales positions most definitely are being replaced by computers. There would be many more bricks and mortar stores if not for the likes of Amazon.com.

Chris Biddle April 28, 2012 · 2:09 am

Our young college graduates are suffering primarily because I believe the current demand for high paying jobs requires a degree in the hard sciences like math, engineering, computers, and physics. Many of these graduates majored in arts and humanities for which there are no jobs. I believe the disillusionment arises from early on, when parents don’t stress the importance of math and science to them. If they don’t, then, at the risk of sounding like a socialist, the goverment must try and do so, and it should be done at the high school level. That is why I would advocate for more funding for programs such as MESA, at the high school level that encourage students to get more involved in the hard sciences.

Anne April 28, 2012 · 7:37 pm

More and more jobs don’t require a four-year degree. So it makes little sense for high schools to continue to push everyone into enrolling in a four year college or university. For one, not every student is adequately prepared for it. Pushing unprepared students is pushing them into taking out loans which cannot be discharged ever, even if they fail out of school and have no credential to show for it. For another, it is unwise for students to take on student loans if the end result is the same kind of job they could have gotten without the degree. If a student comes from a well-off family, or intends to major in a field with good employment (such as STEM, the medical field) then it’s not so important where they attend or how much it costs. HOWEVER, the spiraling costs of college hit hardest those students who don’t finish or who don’t major in a field where they are likely to get a good paying job. Not coincidentally, the worst for-profit schools target those students preferentially.

High schools (and the rest of us) need to rethink things. They need to adequately prepare those students they encourage to enroll in four year colleges, and structure an alternative system of preparation for students who do not meet those standards, such as skilled vocations matched to the demands of employers. To do otherwise is a grave disservice to our young people. It is leaving them without guidance or support in a brutal job market with high debt.

Bill April 29, 2012 · 1:57 am

There’s a danger in assuming that the hard sciences are a golden ticket as well. Many CS majors get jobs after college only to become obsolete by 35.

Rick April 29, 2012 · 3:30 pm

While I agree in theory about STEM fields I doubt that a math major is going to know how to write a museum card and this is coming from a humanities person who is now a curator. Undergrad should not be about the major, but what one does with it. I’ve known too many people with humanities who don’t stop to think outside the box about what is available to them. In many cases it is a simple matter of readjusting one’s goals and you find success.

hkguy April 29, 2012 · 3:35 pm

And yet … and yet … I periodically need to hire fresh graduates for my company the VAST majority of applicants:
• Don’t read the instructions for applying
• Do no research about the nature of my company
• Have horrible spelling& grammar (this is for entry-level journalism jobs!)
• Project a sense of self-entitlement
• NEVER send a note after the interview if they have been rejected
• NEVER ask to pursue freelance projects after they haven’t been hired (& we’d give them some!)
• Are barely articulate
• (this one especially:) Have a degree but very little knowledge. They know pop culture, but ask them what D Day was or what the Periodic Table or where Slovenia is. Blank stares.

Bobby April 29, 2012 · 6:07 pm

These facts shed light on the employment picture but what is of more concern are the ones who don’t finish college and come out with debt…

George Smith April 30, 2012 · 8:44 am

Bottom line is not every kid is a college candidate. We have developed a national mindset that if we don’t send our kids to college not only are we a failure as parents, but so will be the kid.
Finding people who can work with their hands is difficult, but being such is not disgrace. I know a man who works for himself on and in septic tanks. First year, 16,000; second year, 33,000, this past year, 68,000. I know electricians who make 75-90,000. That may not sound great to the cliff dwellers of New York City (and others), but in small town America such is a very good living.
From your ivory tower, look around you now and then. Thousands of people with no college degree make a living by making your life better.
So . . . take whatever particular ship you’re riding and head it in the right direction. If it’s college, fine. If with hands on, that isn’t a ticket to skid row, either.
— George Smith

Billy B. April 30, 2012 · 9:31 am

We most certainly are becoming a nation of menial laborers. While some of core jobs, such as accountant and software developer, are either exported to the country with the lowest bidder or staffed via supposedly temporary work visa, one thing is for sure: corporations are not interested in hiring our young college grads unless they have skills. Gone are the days where you could earn a degree in history and then grab a two-year analyst spot at an investment or commercial bank.

Today’s college grads need to truly think out of the box when looking for work, tapping their innovative and entrepreneurial skills more than their degree. Unfortunately, not every young person is cut out for this lifestyle and those who are not will not find the old corporate welfare system in place.

Colleges are at fault too, with sky-high tuition and expenses, and antiquated programs of study. A degree worth less after graduation should cost less to acquire. And while all the statistics show college graduates earn $650,000 more than non-college grads, I know a few college grads who would challenge that at this point in their lives.

RichWa April 30, 2012 · 12:14 pm

Does one go to college for an education or for vocational training? Perhaps we need to re-evaluate the role of colleges and universities in our society.

Those schools who purport and sell themselves on the basis of training their students for jobs should only be paid when, and if, the student they graduate has a job in the field in which they were trained. These schools market/sell their programs to students as a means to a good job. If they can not deliver the jobs, or the jobs are not available, then the students should not be required to pay the schools as the people that run these schools clearly misrepresented what they were selling. There is no difference between promising someone a new car and, after payment, delivering a old car with no engine, tires, seats, etc.

Michael Cain April 30, 2012 · 1:32 pm

I hold two degrees in Music (B.A and M.M.) and teach at a community college in Camden, NJ. Having experience on both sides of the desk, I can say:

– Students are taught knowledge, but rarely required to synthesize/apply this knowledge in a market-specific way.

– There is no incentive for professors for good outcomes. College is a business like any other; they provide “good enough” for as cheap as possible and charge what their market will bear.

– There is little ownership of the education process, by either student or professor. Both parties feel passive and a “cog in the machine”.

– There is an antiquated mindset that a college degree is guaranteed success in the marketplace. This is clearly not the case.

We need to reframe the role higher education plays in our society. Plumbers, Masons and Carpenters are as important as Software Analysts and Programmers. A bachelor’s degree doesn’t guarantee success any more than being on LinkedIn guarantees you a job. A degree is a tool. Without application, it’s simply a very expensive poster on the wall.

Armstrong A. April 30, 2012 · 2:21 pm

This story was first written at Patch.com.

NEW YORK — Seventy-five job applications. Forty cover letters. Twelve interviews. Zero job offers.

Since graduating from Wellesley College four years ago, Kayla Calkin, 25, has yet to get a break.

In May, Calkin completed a master’s degree in public policy from George Washington University. Like so many her age, she believed a graduate degree might guarantee a more stable future.

Calkin now works as a full-time nanny in Washington, D.C., while continuing to scour for an eventual dream job in politics. Her two degrees make her overqualified for even the most basic, entry-level position.

“I guess I’m overqualified to work on Capitol Hill, but I’m not overqualified to watch one-year-olds play in a playground,” said Calkin, who tries to remain optimistic despite an uncertain future. “It’s a scary, scary time.”

I am about to graduate soon and like Kayla, I am preparing myself psychologically to the next season of job hunting. I have discovered a great list of local and international job boards at //bit.ly/Ijbe8y . My intention is to send around 300 applications worldwide to increase the odds of getting a real offer.

We really need to ask ourselves what a Bachelor, Masters, PhD degrees worth today and why we should better do something else with our lives than getting a degree.

This system has failed us and it is time for us to replace it with a better one.

docprov May 7, 2012 · 8:27 pm

The real question here is how can the college graduates that are celebrating graduation in 2012 stand out among the crowd. Take a look at Anissa Ford’s article on creating a motivational mindset and the motivational video that is 2.5 minutes long:

//www.examiner.com/article/grad-2012-motivational-mindset-to-get-the-job

Augustin Peytchinov May 12, 2012 · 12:37 am

I have to say that most New York Times article’s I have read focus a lot on the unemployment of college graduates from colleges that are not IV league. The argument that most college graduates struggle with paying off their student loans due to a stagnant market would be much more compelling if statistics about the success of IV-league graduates were equally as pessimistic.

Ravi July 14, 2012 · 11:02 pm

Hey Martha,It’s right there on the home page On top of the Admissions & Events Update graphic and next to the sacreh’ option. We are redesigning the Web site which will have very large calendar links. Should be done in early June.

Christine August 23, 2012 · 10:18 am

It’s unfortunate that college students must take retail jobs, etc. in this economy but when things get better they will still be ahead. You can’t take away education!

AJW October 23, 2012 · 5:06 pm

Graduating with a business management degree I’ve learned to realize that the days of relying on a stable corporate salary and working hard to get promoted and achieve optimal production and retire with a pension and get that gold watch are over. As of right now living in California let alone Los Angeles with the most difficult job market, the best thing for me to do until things turn around is work to build my resume by doing a job on comission whether it’s in life insurance for Bankers or a Sales consultant for Aflac. It’s not something I could just jump into out of desperation, it’s something that I have to do with careful planning because it’s like running your own business. The only option i really have is to find a way to put my degree to work some how and work part time on the side. It’s not what I planned to do after college but it’s the only way for me to have a shot at being successful. The fact is doing those sales positions there’s a very low sucess ratio but in reading many forbes articles and bloomberg and entreprenuer, risk taking is my only advocate as of right now