In Some Bay Area Counties, College Grads Have Higher Unemployment (mercurynews.com)

Higher education is supposed to be the ticket to employment. But in some Bay Area counties, workers with a high school diploma have lower unemployment rates than those with bachelor's degrees or higher. From a report: Experts suggested the Bay Area's backwards numbers, which run counter to the national trend, could be the result of too-few lower-wage workers, many of whom have been driven out by skyrocketing housing prices and the rising cost of living. "We have employers call us all the time (saying), 'I'm looking for low-wage, entry-level workers,'" said Kris Stadelman, director of NOVA Workforce Development in Sunnyvale. But there are few workers willing to take on those positions who don't already have jobs, she said.

In Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, the unemployment rate for workers with a high school degree is 3.3 percent, compared to a 3.6 percent rate for workers with a bachelor's degree or higher, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2017 American Community Survey, which measures unemployment by educational attainment for workers between 25 and 64 years old. The same situation exists in two other Bay Area counties -- Marin and Sonoma -- where workers with at least a bachelor's degree don't have the lowest unemployment rate.

The trend is starkest in Sonoma County, where workers without a high school degree have a 0.2 percent unemployment rate compared to a 4.4 percent rate for workers with a bachelor's degree or higher. Workers with a high school diploma in that county have an unemployment rate of 2.8 percent. Statewide, workers with a high school diploma have an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent, nearly double the 3.5 percent rate of those with a bachelor's or higher.

Comments

Re:There is a reason for it

[Anonymous Coward]

Move south. They can't find enough workers. If you can pass a drug test even the most menial job at any of the plants pays $25/hr to start. My favorite example is "hole watch". Whenever they dig a hole for construction, etc, safety rules dictate they pay someone to stand by it to make sure nobody falls in it. I'm not making that up. Starting pay is $25/hr. You won't stay in that job for long before one of the other superintendents or foremen grab you up to train for a skilled trade, because #1 you passed the drug test, #2 you went through the safety classes to be allowed in the plant. Second favorite example is "fire watch". Another $25/hr entry level job to stand in one spot, look around and sound an alarm if the place catches on fire.

Both of those open any number of doors. Unlimited overtime. On-the-job training and experience in very high-demand fields.

I know a 20 y.o. diesel mechanic that cleared $220k in 2018 and just bought his 3rd property. He's not even old enough to drink. But by all means, go into massive debt to earn a degree in general studies and then spend the next 40 years paying back that loan.

Good point

[rsilvergun]

A lot of guys I knew in the trade were laid off 2-3 months out of the year doing odd jobs to get by. The company I worked for kept us year round and found busy work, but they could only do that because they had a nice business contract. Most tradesmen have lean months and a tough time throughout the year as a result. The huge cutback on infrastructure spending and, as a result, construction hasn't helped matters either.

Re:Not just the Bay Area.

[thegarbz]

That's called observer bias. The idea that dropping out and learning a trade is a road to riches is just daft and ignores the realities of trade industries:

Those who make it big:
- Run their own business, and don't play with a welding machine or a socket outlet.
- Work for a major company as staff on a large plant often in the middle of bumshart nowhere, and are lucky to have gotten this competitive and sought after role.

Those who you *think* have made it big:
- The guy who charges you $80/h labour while you ignore the fact that he wastes half the day driving between jobs and will not be fully booked.
- The guy who is loaded in cash today but can't make ends meet tomorrow because the majority of trade based industries are peak and trough cycles.

And above all: You're looking in the bay area and extrapolating. Sorry to burst your bubble, but unless you have a useless degree in golf course management or art critiquing you'll pretty much find work anywhere in the world.