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A shift in young people's views on work
College students in classroom.
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TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: The dismal state of the current American labor market is doing a job on the confidence of the next generation of workers. A survey out today shows that job security has become the top priority for college students. It outranks even pay and benefits. And the study is just the latest indicator of change in how young people think about work. Marketplace's Amy Scott explains.
AMY SCOTT: The tax and advisory firm KPMG surveyed college students around the world. More than three quarters of them said job security was their top priority in a career search.
Shaun Kelly is a vice chairman at KPMG.
SHAUN KELLY: They're seeing their colleagues and other recent graduates struggling to find jobs, and I think their interest in increased job security is really an outgrowth of the current economic reality.
It's a shift for a generation known for its confidence, even cockiness.
Edwin Koch does a much larger survey of college students at the National Association of Colleges and Employers. He says there's still plenty of that confidence left. Even though many students said they'd need a hand from mom and dad, he says well over half of those in last year's survey expected to find a job.
EDWIN KOCH: These are young men and women who have achieved throughout their relatively short lives. And they expect to continue to achieve.
And when the job market does improve, Phil Gardner expects young people to go back to their old ways. He's with the Collegiate Employment Research Institute. He says recent grads will change jobs for better pay and more excitement.
PHIL GARDNER: I think that they'll get in, they'll hunker down. And when the economy begins to generate jobs, if they don't like where they're at, they're gonna move.
But that may take a while.
Last year, Edwin Koch says less than 20 percent of college seniors had lined up a job at graduation.
In New York, I'm Amy Scott for Marketplace.
My new graduate son called just before I heard this story. He said that he'd been all over looking for a job, including Wal-Mart, and just wanted to let me know that he was using the credit card for $100 (he lets us know if he's spending over $50) since he needed to buy a folding table and chair because he was going to stand on the street corner with a sign that said he was a college graduate looking for work (bachelors in Digital Entertainment and Game Design--I think he's in the right part of the country, correct?). Yes, he's going to wear his suit. I suggested, that he have the sign professionally done instead of holding a piece of cardboard--it would match his suit better. And, hey, if you see him, maybe just give him a hug for me instead of honking your horn, but an interview would be even better!! :)
As a career coach, I see alot of trends in this area, particularly:
- Attitudes are shifting based on personal experiences not just on the notion of "being in an economic downturn". As more and more students witness their parents and older siblings experience job losses, pay cuts and furloughs, the ripple effect may extend to them, and shift their attitudes
- Campus Career Services offices are being more vocal about sharing recent graduates' experiences to current students to present a more realistic perception of what the job market is like. If a student hears the change in statistics about likelihood to get a job, or recent alumni come back and share honest feedback about what it's really like out there, that shapes perception more clearly
- Social media use is driving the viral nature of storytelling. More students are passing along the harrowing tales of their peers' experiences with job searching in the downturn via social media--and that breeds fear and concern.
I think it's a good thing for any generation to understand the ebbs and flows of the market.
- Susan Strayer
www.susanstrayer.com
Twitter: @dailycareertips
