Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Good News for College Grads and the US
The US economy and employment continue to be very good, although it may not always seem that way from much of what we read. Perhaps recounting some recent news will give a better perspective on how well off most of us are. Consider the difference in job prospects between US college grads and their French counterparts. Start with this item fromUS News:
"U.S. college graduates are facing the best job market since 2001, with business, computer, engineering, education and health care grads in highest demand, a report by an employment consulting firm showed on Monday.
'We are approaching full employment and some employers are already dreaming up perks to attract the best talent,' said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The firm pointed to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers which showed employers plan to hire 14.5 percent more new college graduates than a year ago.The survey also found higher starting salaries this year. "
That comes from a dynamic economy that has brought overall unemployment down to less than 4.8%; but this year's grads may do even better than that. The contrast with France is stark. Their national unemployment rate is over double ours at 9.6% and is a sysytemic problem, with much higher rates for the young.
French employers are not beating down the colleges doors to recruit young talent. Instead the students and other demonstrators were rioting at the elite Sorbonne University and throughout France over their fears of a competitive job market. As Forbes reports French police arrest over 160 as protests over labor law turn violent: "Calm returned to Paris early Sunday after riot police teargassed scores of demonstrators in the wake of a demonstration by an estimated million people who took to the streets of France to protest a widely unpopular new labour law. "
The law in question is the government's First Employment Contract (CPE) ; from the article: "The CPE, a contract for under 26-year-olds that can be terminated in the first two years without explanation, is supposed to encourage employers to take on young staff.
Drawn up in the wake of riots late last year in high-immigration city suburbs -- where youth unemployment can be as high as 50 percent -- the CPE was approved by parliament last week as part of a wider equal opportunities law. But the opposition says the CPE is a step back from hard-won labour rights, and will make it more difficult than ever for young people to find long-term employment."
That's a strange form of socialistic logic being expressed there; and it explains why the French have such high unemployment. Once you get hired in France, labor rules make it practically impossible to fire you. That's great if you do get hired. But it makes employers very reluctant to take a chance on young unknown talent. Hence the extremely high national youth unemployment rate of over 20% , rising to 50% in the immigrant suburbs.
The CPE is hardly a draconian law; it merely gives employers the right to fire new workers who are under 26 years old with less than 2 years on the job. It gives a lot more youngsters a chance to get a first job, and may add some dynamic competitveness to the French economy. But I guess the French prefer that a few get lifetime job guarantees than that all get a chance to work - even though that choice locks them into high unemployment.
I don't begrudge the French their social choices, but the contrast does make me feel very fortunate to be an American and to know my children have a lot more opportunity here than anywhere else.
"U.S. college graduates are facing the best job market since 2001, with business, computer, engineering, education and health care grads in highest demand, a report by an employment consulting firm showed on Monday.
'We are approaching full employment and some employers are already dreaming up perks to attract the best talent,' said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The firm pointed to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers which showed employers plan to hire 14.5 percent more new college graduates than a year ago.The survey also found higher starting salaries this year. "
That comes from a dynamic economy that has brought overall unemployment down to less than 4.8%; but this year's grads may do even better than that. The contrast with France is stark. Their national unemployment rate is over double ours at 9.6% and is a sysytemic problem, with much higher rates for the young.
French employers are not beating down the colleges doors to recruit young talent. Instead the students and other demonstrators were rioting at the elite Sorbonne University and throughout France over their fears of a competitive job market. As Forbes reports French police arrest over 160 as protests over labor law turn violent: "Calm returned to Paris early Sunday after riot police teargassed scores of demonstrators in the wake of a demonstration by an estimated million people who took to the streets of France to protest a widely unpopular new labour law. "
The law in question is the government's First Employment Contract (CPE) ; from the article: "The CPE, a contract for under 26-year-olds that can be terminated in the first two years without explanation, is supposed to encourage employers to take on young staff.
Drawn up in the wake of riots late last year in high-immigration city suburbs -- where youth unemployment can be as high as 50 percent -- the CPE was approved by parliament last week as part of a wider equal opportunities law. But the opposition says the CPE is a step back from hard-won labour rights, and will make it more difficult than ever for young people to find long-term employment."
That's a strange form of socialistic logic being expressed there; and it explains why the French have such high unemployment. Once you get hired in France, labor rules make it practically impossible to fire you. That's great if you do get hired. But it makes employers very reluctant to take a chance on young unknown talent. Hence the extremely high national youth unemployment rate of over 20% , rising to 50% in the immigrant suburbs.
The CPE is hardly a draconian law; it merely gives employers the right to fire new workers who are under 26 years old with less than 2 years on the job. It gives a lot more youngsters a chance to get a first job, and may add some dynamic competitveness to the French economy. But I guess the French prefer that a few get lifetime job guarantees than that all get a chance to work - even though that choice locks them into high unemployment.
I don't begrudge the French their social choices, but the contrast does make me feel very fortunate to be an American and to know my children have a lot more opportunity here than anywhere else.
