Why Generation Y Should Feel Good about the Job Market

While the percentage of Generation Y workers — currently employed or not — who were looking for new jobs in March of 2010 had doubled since the beginning of 2008, more than half expect to go, or have indeed gone, on an interview. This is according to the latest Workplace Insights Survey from Adecco Group North America, which comprises data on 2,222 adults in the U.S. ages 18 and older, of whom 1,149 are employed full time and/or part time.

This news itself may not translate necessarily to a harbinger of positive job market news for the younger generation. No, that harbinger is the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) Job Outlook 2010 Spring Update, a survey that shows, among 177 NACE community employers, an expectation to hire 5.3 percent more new college graduates now than in 2008-2009.

Amid a rocky spate punctuated by a stock market in free fall and the implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and ensuing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as well as a bevy of other hits both financial and psychological to the U.S. economy, the job market for new graduates had been floundering. Earlier projections for the Class of 2010 showed hiring would be down 7 percent compared to last year, but now, almost 80 percent of employers responding to NACE’s survey report that their spring 2010 plans call for them to hire for full-time and/or internship positions.

“Nearly 60 percent of respondents have plans to hire more or the same number of new college graduates in Fall 2010 as they did in Fall 2009,” said Marilyn Mackes, executive director of NACE.

The outlook for demographics other than Generation Y contributes additional dynamics to the discourse over what the full extend of the recovery will be. For instance, according to Addeco Group’s data, 30 percent of Generation X workers, 29 percent of Baby Boomers and 22 percent of workers aged 61 and older also have interviewed or plan to interview in the year ahead. What’s unclear is whether or not this is attributable to proactive job seeking or the result of layoffs that have already happened or layoffs that these employees, for one reason or another, anticipate. Furthermore, Addeco finds that 26 percent of workers are saving more money for potential unemployment than they used to.

Posted by RecruitingTrends.com on April 21, 2010. Filed under Data Watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry