What the unemployment figures are really telling us

An interesting statistic was mentioned in a post on Huffington. Unemployment for those making $150 000 a year was only 3% in the last quarter of 2009 whereas the percentage of unemployed was a staggering 31% for the bottom 10% of income (USA stats).

So much for an across the board unemployment rate. Put a figure to the percentage and the number of people involved is officially at 15 million but estimates make the figure closer to 26 million if one counts those who have given up looking for work.  A third of these are placed in the bottom percentile.

In other statistics offered in articles on the employment situation it is generally pointed out to the reader that the most affected group are the young people joining the work force. This ties in with the 31% in the bottom 10% of income.

Young people enter the workplace with no actual work skills. This is especially true for young University graduates. Historically many disciplines offered at academic institutions have been fairly divorced from the real life of the work environment. Classics, philosophy, ancient literature and many more fields do not provide graduates with employable skills.

True, University students will always learn how to conduct research, put together a logical dissertation on a point and hopefully do this using good language skills. But does one need to spend three to four years learning this with the resultant large student loan to have to pay off for the rest of ones life?

Regrettably, academia tends to sit huddled in its ivory towers not prepared to budge from its self-image of ‘pure knowledge’. Whatever that might mean. Perhaps what will help them budge might be the exodus of young people who will turn to other resources and institutions available to continue with their studies.

What is indisputable is the fact that young people will need to acquire different skills from those traditionally offered by present day colleges and universities. Some of these will be about how to start ones own business, invest for wealth, marketing and selling ones skills and many more that will enable young people to become entrepreneurs rather than working for a company.

Self-sufficiency will be the key for the following generations.  The key to the factory doors have been tossed in the garbage bin never to be found again.

Of course it also means a mind set change for parents.  As parent there is no longer the easy option. The concept of college and job for your children doesn’t cut it anymore. It just got a whole lot more complex.

Instead of constantly trying to get your child to conform you will need to encourage them to take risks. You will need to help them with thinking outside of the box, to plan for a future that is totally unpredictable.  No more life time jobs, no more single career lives. It’s all up in the air.

It’s a totally different scenario. We cannot approach this in the same way as our parents or grandparents did. New ideas and innovations will be king, not drone like ‘follow my leader’ behaviour.  Are we up to the task? We better be.