I've so much to look forward to on graduation!

Come May and June when high school, college, grad school and professional school graduates will march into the graduation arena to receive their diplomas to the sounds of Pomp and Circumstance with their family and friends watching.  Accompanying this celebratory mood will be fear, anxiety and uncertainty similar to the class before them. 

Joblessness among young adults 16-24 is much more severe and the unemployment rate continues its steady upward climb.  This will likely lead to what Business Week calls “the scarring of a generation” that will create a Lost Generation—a disillusioned generation that will forever be affected by the remnants of the recession.

 ”…employers are likely to suffer from the scarring of a generation. The freshness and vitality young people bring to the workplace is missing. Tomorrow’s would-be star employees are on the sidelines, deprived of experience and losing motivation.”

  According to Business Week, The Great Recession is expected to impact young people in the following manner:

• Negatively impact lifetime earnings.

Even 15 years after the recession, the recession graduates will still earn 2.5% less than non-recession graduates will.   

• Get stuck in dead end jobs or jobs beneath their capacity and talent.

If the experience of Japan is any indicator then it is likely that these young workers will have more health concerns.  According to the Japan Productivity Center, recession graduates account for 6 out of 10 cases of depression, stress and other health problems. 

• Employers more likely to view recession graduates as damaged goods.

 This view is very prevalent in the legal field.  If you fall off the traditional trajectory towards certain kinds of careers then you would not be able to just hop on when the economy recovers.  My failure to get an offer from the large law firm after my second year of law school means that I am in many ways seen as damaged goods or tainted.  The law firms will be looking at a new crop of law students to hire for the first year positions.  In order for me to get on the Big Firm job would be to go work for the government or a particular industry where I can get some great experience and then after getting about 5 years of experience under my belt go back and try to go into Big Firm as a senior associate.  

Business Week’s The Lost Generation