The best she hopes for.....

[gimmethesimplelife]

I just left what I consider a really depressing facebook chat with a fellow returning employee to the North Rim. This is what I consider a bright and energetic young woman, 28 or so, with a great attitude. We were chatting about the upcoming season and then what we do for the winters and her comment really got me down.....Thank God for unemployment, it's the best we can hope for.....This is not the first time I have heard this in seasonal work, but this is the first time I have heard the comment coming from someone of this caliber. I asked her how her job hunt was going - she has a bachelor's in business management - and she said the best she could do was serving at the North Rim and then unemployment, and she has made peace with herself and this diminished life. Somehow the permanent effects of the recession became crystal clear to me - how is she supposed to pay off her student loans - when the shelf life of her degree is ticking away relentlessly.....Not good. North Rim Rob Summer 2011

[Bill]

Rob, That is a depressing story. Unfortunately it's happening all over the country. Many people would be lucky to even get seasonal work. I worry about the futures of our young people.

[Rosemary]

Sounds like she is limiting her job locations for some reason, as I would guess that somewhere there must be jobs for people with that type of training.

While we know a number of people who lost their jobs in the past 2-3 years, all of them found equivalent jobs within about a 6-month period.

[Gregg]

I do agree with Rosemary that it sounds like she is somehow limiting her search. Does she love and not want to leave the desert southwest (understandable to most of us who have spent a lot of time there)? Or are there other factors that would limit her mobility?

In the larger sense her story shows that our system is failing. I'm a dyed in the wool capitalist and truly believe that philosophy can get us out of this recession and help this country get closer to where we came from than where we are heading. It doesn't take unbridled, unregulated, unrestrained, balls to the walls, completely free markets to do that, but it does require an environment with reasonable stability to encourage increased investment. Right now the jobs like this young woman can't find are the key. Without jobs we will remain stuck in the mud. This country is simply not providing opportunities to enough people. Most people don't have unrealistic expectations, but the jobs that will be essential for the next generation are not being created by this (my) generation. Until that happens there just isn't anywhere to go.

[Gina]

The unemployment rate is much lower for college graduates. Something like 4-5%? Not sure what the story is with this young woman. Perhaps she enjoys the summer job so much she is somehow limiting her 'off season' searches? Or the cycle of employment/unemployment has gotten too comfortable?

If she is only 28 and with a degree in business management, perhaps she thinks she should be getting a 'better' job out of the box. Maybe she needs to bite the bullet, think longer term (years) and start with a lowly job in a company and work her way up. Like our parents and their parents did.

I think sometimes people have unreasonable expectations about the kinds of jobs a college degree entitles them to.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Perhaps part of the problem is that she lives in Las Vegas, a city of 14% plus unemployment, and has had two interviews since last October with no offers. Not even can she get an interview at McDonald's or Burger King or even to wash dishes or bus tables somewhere. She tells me she is content to default on her student loans if need be - she has no desire to own a house as she thinks things change too fast to make being in a mortgage practical these days. From what I know of Vegas, I would believe her difficulties in finding work.....Rob of the North Rim once more Summer 2011