It's hard to find jobs in this economy. Even though jobless rates are falling and some locations in the U.S. have already recovered from the recession in terms of the amount of jobs available, some college grads are still struggling to find a job. Why is it so hard? Because of a phenomenon called underemployment that has existed since the college grads were born.
Underemployment is the phenomenon where professionals who have much better qualifications are required to settle for work that they are overqualified for. Jobs that require a college degree are not at the levels before the recession yet.
A common problem for recent graduates is that they are looking only for jobs that match their qualifications, so they remain unemployed until they have to reach for the smaller paycheck.
However, an even bigger problem that was probably more rampant in the 1990s is underemployment. In 1990-1991, nearly 50 percent of college graduates will have to work in jobs that do not require a college degree before finding better jobs and starting their career path.
Though the recession was mild at that time (the recent recession was the worst one since 1930s), the underemployment problem was still a few points higher than it is now.
Probably due to the technological industry bloom that is attracting many of the younger generation, by 1999, underemployment was reduced to 35%. When the recession had started at the end of 2007, underemployment was still lower than 40%.
Even though college graduates may find it difficult to obtain a job that requires their qualifications, research still shows that a college degree in any field is better than no degree at all. It might just take a longer period of time for some to realize its benefits.
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