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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.
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.
"Most" is probably the "most" inaccurate statement in the world on this.
It is true you don't need a degree to be a fantastic Pythonista. Try getting a job as a discrete graphics engineer, nurse, teacher, or accountant without a degree. It is true that Trades are a great way to go as well but even most trades have a required educational component.
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I do not have a degree and I work as a graphics driver engineer at the top discreet graphics company.
An education is vital for my role, but a slip of paper from an accredited University is not strictly necessary. My experience is that being self taught was a lower cost but more work in order to rise to a similar level of experise. If you can afford University, then go. It's a less turmoilous path than that of maverick.
I think it's true just about everywhere. The old saying "More learnin', less earnin'," is truer now than it ever was.
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
On what planet is a starting electrician only making $10/hr?
"In 2016, the median wage for an electrician was $52,720. The highest-paid earned $90,420, while the lowest-paid electricians earned around $31,800 that year. An apprentice usually makes between 30 percent and 50 percent less than someone who is fully trained."
https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/electrician/salary
The scale varies in areas with higher cost-of-living too. Expect those wages to be much higher in Silicon Valley.
Agreed: I worked in a call center for a major US phone co back in the 90s. I was told to write customer issues down on a paper pad, wasn't given a computer to look up customer accounts, and was told to lie that I was looking up account info despite having to capacity to do so. Got myself fired after about a week -- I ended up telling quite a few customers the whole story for fun and giggles.
They do pay well. Maybe not in comparison to other jobs in the Bay Area, but that's something those commies up there will have to deal with on their own. Once it's too expensive to live there, for trades people, the programmers and other IT goobers will find the cost of repairs is going to shoot up. You pay for the labor and you pay for the commute to get to the labor. Supply and Demand... If your supply of plumbers is zero and the demand is greater than zero....
In areas outside of Silicon Valley a plumber can still earn a very comfortable living. The prospects look even better for continued wage growth as the amount of people becoming plumbers is dwindling. Plumbing is one of those jobs that will be around forever.. If the available pool continues to shrink the wages will continue to rise in response. Same thing is happening with electricians.. A friend with a construction company said his average pay for electricians is about $45/hour right now. I know that doesn't sound like a whole lot to a Bay Area person but in the regular world that's pretty damn good. The median income for CA is $60,336/yearly. $45/hour puts you at about $93,600/year. That's over 50% higher than the median. So basically, anywhere besides San Fran, you're earning a very good living.
When things go awry a competent plumber is a whole lot more important, at that moment, than just about any tech type job.. If your shit won't go down the toilet, fixing that becomes about the most important job in the world...
for Nursing. All told it's going to cost me about $140k for 4 years (tuition, books, room, board, the car I had to buy her because it's physically impossible to take a bus from her morning classes to her clinicals in time, etc). Starting salary will be between $50-$70k/yr depending on the job she takes and where she takes it.
A trade pays $9/hr to start, $15/hr after a few years and then tops out at $25/hr. I did a stint as an electrician's apprentice so I'm pretty familiar (cut those numbers by about 30% for inflation and you know where I was at). You're gonna top out around $50k/yr, which is where my kid _starts_. Over 40-60 years of work that will add up fast. Not to mention she will have much, much better benefits.
Heck, if you're a teacher in it for the money you can start around $40k/yr as long as you're willing to move and/or commute to a wealthy district (the way districts are funded means if you want to teach in a poor neighborhood because you grew up there plan on getting shafted).
I see a lot of folks saying a degree ain't worth it, but it always seems to be the kind of folks who don't want to pay for kids to go to school. It's expensive as hell ($140k in my case and I'm cutting corners) so I get where they're coming from, but this is why our country gets flooded with H1-Bs. It lets the companies go to Congress and say "Well, we wanted to hire American, but we just can't find anyone with the _skills_ we need".
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An yet here we have a great example of the problem. You think just because YOU find these jobs boring that other people do too. YOU think that everyone has the same values as you do. That is far from the truth.
Odds are you have never done any of these jobs so you really know only what you have been taught about them. I have cousin that is welder. He loves his job. One month he is working on a job in New Orleans, a few months later he is welding high steel in Chicago. His job takes him all around the country.
I have another cousin who is diesel mechanic. He drives a truck around repairing broken down 18 wheelers. He rarely travels 30 miles from his home. He loves his job. He says he wouldn't be doing anything else.
A job, ether blue collar or white is what you make out of it. Some people just like working with their hands and wouldn't have it any other way.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
True, they don't get sent overseas, however they can be replaced by imported labor. In the south, carpenters, brick layers, (anything related to home building) has largely been replaced by cheaper imported labor. I would say that you wouldn't see that as much in customer-facing labor such as a plumber or electrician that you call to come to your house, but for bulk carpentry, electrical, and plumbing, it's a thing.
...what do these unemployable graduates have degrees in?
Something useful that is a marketable skill that would lead to a decent job or a graduate degree in interpretive dance theory?