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Election 2012: The Last Chance for Gen Y

The term Generation Y first appeared in an August 1993 Ad Age editorial to describe teenagers of the day, which they defined, at that time, as separate from Generation X, and then aged 12 or younger (born after 1981), as well as the teenagers of the upcoming ten years.^[19]

Since then, the company has sometimes used 1982 as the starting birth year for this generation.^[20]

Wikipedia

The Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary have come and gone. Now it's on to South Carolina – ahh, election year politics!

As you watch the TV pundits and party hacks wax on trying to sell the public their latest SPIN, it’s easy to see all this as just another sporting event. And in many elections, that’s all it is.

But this year is different – this year an entire generation’s future is on the line. And with the late summer appearance of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, America now has a face for the anger and frustration of the greatest victims of Obama’s Great Recession.

I know Gen Y very, very well. My only daughter was born in 1986 and most of my friends and relatives have children in this cohort. In 2005, I left a very lucrative career in Silicon Valley to write my first book: Career Secret Sauce: 9 Winning Strategies for Building a Great Career.

The Life and Death of Gen Y

I spent several years working with young people on their careers. Many on the left want us to believe that the entire last decade was some kind of dark economic abyss. It’s simply not true.

The brief downturn that followed the 9/11 attacks notwithstanding, virtually every child born after 1980 found multiple job offers waiting for them when it came to make a living. In fact, as recently as 2007, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reported that 17.4 percent more jobs await the class of 2007 than the class of 2006 and 26 of 29 undergraduates reported larger starting salary offers (source: Christian Science Monitor).

Then came 2008, Obama became president, took the country hard to the left, and career opportunities for Generation Y effectively died. The sad thing is that in large part, it was Gen Y who propelled Obama to victory. His promise of Hope and Change and “no more politics as usual” were simply too compelling for young hearts and souls to pass up.

How bad have things gotten since those great days when George W. Bush was president? Bleak doesn’t describe it.

Last week I saw Bill Rogers (former Labor Department Economist) on the Stuart Varney show the statistics he reported were downright depressing – look at this:

According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for High School Grads from the Class of 2010 is almost 30% over the year.
According to The US Census Bureau, 5.9 million 25-34 year-olds still live with their parents
The December Unemployment Rate for 16-24 Year Olds was 16.7%.
Even the unemployment rate for College Grads is over 10%.

Beyond the numbers, I can tell you first hand that only the top graduates form the class of 2008-2010 have actually landed a job on their chosen career. I’m talking about kids who were at the top of their class with “business friendly” degrees like engineering, finance, or accounting, and who worked multiple internships with future employers during their junior and senior years.

Liberal Arts graduates who never worked a day in their field before graduation day are making coffee at Starbucks, or worse, the dreaded “living in their parent’s basement” with no idea how they’ll pay back their college loans!

I can also tell you from my own professional experience that a college graduate who goes a year or more without working in the field of their major probably never will. All they’ll have to show for their diploma is 20 years of loan payments.

How Obama Killed Careers for Gen Y

At this point you may be saying “how can you blame all this on Obama?” I know it’s harsh and I’m sure it sounds like partisan politics, but hear me out.

The fact of the matter is that most young people find their first jobs in the private sector. Sure, there are a few who end up teaching, in public safety, or the military, but the numbers are small. In order for America to have a welcoming job market for kids coming out of school, the private sector must be hungry for new talent.

The key word here is “hungry.” Obama may tout the slowly growing job numbers in the private sector, but with 10 million plus unemployed, employers have plenty of experienced workers to pick through before they have to take a chance on a kid with no real world experience.

And as I have documented numerous times on these pages, no president in history has held the private sector in such contempt. The taxes and fees within Obamacare, the job killing Dodd/Frank business regulation bill, as well as direct assaults on Boeing, the US Energy Industry, and virtually anyone wealthy enough to invest in starting a new business. It’s no wonder so many CEO’s have gone on the record saying “we’re not hiring until Obama’s gone.”

No More Government Hiring

I mentioned earlier that traditionally, a minor percentage of graduates have gone to work for the public sector, but since Obama ran up back-to-back trillion dollar plus spending deficits, those days are gone as well.

Take a look at this chart from University of Michigan economics professor Mark Perry.

Since Obama took office, 589,000 government jobs have been lost – mostly local government like school teachers, cops, and firefighters. Further, Obama has slashed the military budget beginning in 2013, so there will be fewer job opportunities for service careers.

Given the deficit and given the political climate in this country, there is virtually zero chance that public sector hiring will pick up. That is until we return to the days of a robust, profitable, taxpaying private sector -- zero chance!

It’s Time To Vote With Your Brain.

For all you young people or friends and family of young people who have a soft spot in your heart for the elusive promises of liberalism, it’s time to vote with your brain.

The choice for 2012 couldn’t be clearer. You can reelect Obama and virtually guarantee that we’ll look back and at 2010 and say “those were the good old days.” Or you can elect a business friendly capitalist like Mitt Romney and kick-start the 2013 job market for Gen Y.

It’s true that many elections don’t mean much, but this one is different. Four more years of Obama truly means the end of career aspirations for Generation Y.

Please don’t let this happen,

Dave

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Election 2012: The Last Chance for Gen Y
Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Who Stole My Career?

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