Sad article in the NY Times on the problem of degree inflation in a down market: Employers have the luxury of being choosy, and can require that secretaries, file clerks, even $10/hour workers, have college degrees. The unemployment rate for workers with a bachelor’s degree is only 3.7%, whereas for workers with only a high school diploma, it’s 8.1%. It seems the college degree is becoming the new high school diploma:
Consider the 45-person law firm of Busch, Slipakoff & Schuh here in Atlanta, a place that has seen tremendous growth in the college-educated population. Like other employers across the country, the firm hires only people with a bachelor’s degree, even for jobs that do not require college-level skills.
This prerequisite applies to everyone, including the receptionist, paralegals, administrative assistants and file clerks. Even the office “runner” — the in-house courier who, for $10 an hour, ferries documents back and forth between the courthouse and the office — went to a four-year school.
“College graduates are just more career-oriented,” said Adam Slipakoff, the firm’s managing partner. “Going to college means they are making a real commitment to their futures. They’re not just looking for a paycheck.”
Read the whole thing. I don’t see this going away until:
1. Our economy grows hundreds of thousands of jobs every month (the current rate is piddly).
2. Alternative (and inexpensive) routes for demonstrating competency are more widely accepted by employers (and selected by young adults), particularly to fill low skill-level positions.
Other thoughts?