'The Lost Generation' is Over-Educated and Outfoxed by Baby Boomers

This article is over simplified. Ignoring the phenonmenom of young Americans going overseas to find employment( and doing so successfully). It is true as long as you have a degree you will have a job. Engineers are in large numbers in the US. There are a lot of Americans signing up to earn a degree in it. But the way engineers are treated is quite horrible. The US citizens are simply at the brunt end of corporate bullshit, and trust me having a business degree won't be helping you in the US economy. People looked at me crazy with my degree, and when I was able to go overseas paid for by the school and state, and network with a lot of entreprenuers and businessmen, artist, etc. I understand now that it is better to get a BA in anything than to not earn a BA at all. Getting an advanced degree can help you, how does it create uncertainty? Also Young adults in the US are starting to become more bilingual. A lot of college students value having language skills. Not all skills have to be technical to get a job. IF a company is saying as a requirement your Resume must make note that you can type 100 words a minute, and use Microsoft office programs then that company is basically completely out of touch with generation y who won't be putting down the obvious because that won't make them stand out on a resume, and it also will be a waste of space. Believe it or not its assumed by many companies that young adults are computer savvy in using microsoft office programs at the very least. If not they know they're dealing with fast learners. Gen Y also isn't lazy. I notice in America people think the youth is lazy, and I see college students working their asses off. Kids who didn't go to college working their asses off. Graduates working their asses off. The US is too much into living for work, and not working to live. I see young people busting their asses, and being constantly discredited. The solutions Jane offers is BS. This is an economy not creating any jobs.

As a baby boomer I can remember some of my friends being passed over for jobs they had applied for because they were over-qualified. I always felt this was a terrible thing to do for people who only tried to better themselves. But, beware, some companies, no matter what the current economy is, will hire someone with less (degrees, experience, etc.) so they can pay less to them. But, they will expect the same level of work at the same time.

I'm always suspicious of "Generation A is like this' type articles and this isn't convincing me to re-evaluate that position.

1.) There's no evidence presented that Baby Boomers are more likely to get or retain a job when they compete with Gen Y people for the same position. I suspect that in most cases, Boomers aren't actually competing for the same jobs to begin with.

2.) There's no evidence presented that the over-education is causing Gen Y's problems. According to the last census, under 10% of the *total* US population had a master's degree. That's not really going to move the needle, even if the figure has increased a little bit.

3.) The argument actually presented seems to be simply that Gen Y is having a harder time paying down debts because they have more loans, a fact easily explained by the increasing cost of education.

The easiest explanation seems to be that a lot of people are graduating into an economy without any new jobs. The jobs that do exist are already occupied, largely by Boomers and Gen Xers. It's not remotely clear that foregoing additional education in order to be an unemployed bachelor's degree holder instead of an unemployed JD is a hugely obvious improvement.

First, I was born in 1960-near the tail end of the baby boomers. I have little in common with those turning 65 today. When I graduated from college we were in the middle of another "great recession" and I couldn't get a job flipping burgers without 2 years of experience. I joined the Army for 3 years to get experience and it paid off. I do not like the use of the term "lost generation" here - that was originally used for the Korean War era generation. The "Y" generation isn't "lost" - I see lots of young people getting great jobs while I'm skipped over due to my age - and yes, I have a Master's degree in Project Management. I have 20 years experience in IT - started before there was such a field - and that's the problem. Now IT is considered a "kid's" field regardless of certificates and degrees (and yes, I have IT certs too). You want a job? Join the military like I did - and wait out the recession there. And no, you don't have to be an 11 bang bang (infantry) - you could be a photographer, or a musician, or a graphic artist, or just about anything there is in the civilian world. And they will pay for your education.

Granted I have a Master's Degree and some obscene debt, but my job prospects would've been nil without my Master's. The wisdom of choosing a sensible Bachelor's Degree is understated in this article. When I was growing up, I was told by baby boomers to get any degree and the world would open up. It didn't. They also told me to do something I'd like doing because I'd be doing it for a long time. I'm not doing it now, besides, what you enjoy as an 18 year old might not be what you enjoy as a 30-something. If I could do it over again, I would've majored in a science or business. Everything in life is business, that degree has limitless application and every manager in every field needs basic business skills. Science and engineering are crown professions. The reason we import so many of them is because we aren't cranking out enough domestically. Liberal Arts programs should require a waiver of responsibility so the kids know in no uncertain terms that they've chosen an uphill battle in life and they may never know financial security.

Umm.... what about generation X? Baby boomers never have kept me out of a job. Generation Y kids are very bright and can out-think/out-perform us easily if only they would believe in themselves more. Generation Y kids were babied too much by their parents who over-emphasized education over life experience. You need both. Yes, you DO have to get a McJob before you can move into that management job you've been holding out for. These kids were raised on too much TV. The real world is not TV. Sorry but that's how it is.

This editorial is kind of insulting and I'm of Gen. X not Y.

"...continuously acquiring academic degrees as a supposed remedy to unemployment." When I was in highschool "the education is of utmost importance" rhetoric was pretty strong. I imagine that it has ramped up more for this generation. Who was spouting all of this get a degree, get a higher paying job crap? Boomers. What ever happened to learn a trade, get an in demand skill, get a job? No one ever told me that. So we have a bunch of highly educated people with zero skills.

"...get a job, any job." OK. I'll take the job. Wait, there are no jobs. I'm overqualified for many jobs which are only paying 10 to 12 dollars an hours. An I did stop at my Bachelor's degree. Thank goodness I'm still employed at the job that I had while I was busy earning that degree. The job that I have which requires no degree and pays 50% more than entry level jobs that require a 4-year degree. Find me a job that will allow me to pay my mortgage and my "good debt" school loans and I'll take it. I'll take anything. And I have a great work ethic. I've been with the same company for 8 years and have missed zero days of work.

"..Without the albatross of student loans..." I agree with this one. State schools with low tuition are the best ways to go. My student loan payment is higher than my mortgage payment. It's a weight around my neck.


"...Observe Baby Boomers in the workplace." Uh... no. My generation and below are whiny, spoiled, brats who think that they should be patted on the back and given a raise for walking in the door only fifteen minutes late. The baby boomers created these clowns who are incapable of taking any responsibility and who run to their mommy and daddy to fix every problem that they have. I'll find my own way of doing things. Thanks.

"...You will know when you can start to indulge in a middle class lifestyle." I agree, however, a problem is that parents aren't teaching their children anything about financial responsiblity. They aren't being told to save up and buy things with cash. They watch their parents trade in their cars every 3 years still owing a balance on a loan because they want a new car NOW. They watch their parents pull out the charge card because they've got to have a new high end leather purse NOW. These things were learned watching the beloved boomer generation.

Your solutions will not work in this current economy with this current generation. It's time to look for a new mind set. Obviously the boomer gen did well for themselves, congrats, but what you did will not work for this current generation. We need to find a new path and until we stop playing these foolish my generation is better than your generation games we wont.

I would absolutely agree that this generation (i'm actaully an Xer, though I have very little patience with these generational lables)has a higher education issue. While it can be beneficial, workplace experience is ofter extremely valuable. But I worked for three years after my undergrad and before my grad degree, and there is nothing as demoraling as working in a nothing job when you are qualified for much more. After so much time, there feels like litte other alternatives to school. It's not quite as easy as you make it sound.

I would also disagree with the representation of the Baby Boomer's work prowess; they are currently the ones in the top managment positiions based on their current age, and it has little to do with their "generation". It seems obvious that those who came before us have more skill and experience. I don't think that is an issue for younger generations. By stating that baby boomers are the ones that have done it right all along, I think it exaserbates the growing disconnect and animosity betweent the two generations - with Baby Bommers wanting all the glory without accepting that they've made some mistakes along the way that have put their kids in a bad spot.

But again, those kids are adults now, and the time to blame is over. We must identify what we feel went wrong and go out and make the changes we want to live with for the next 50 years.

We're in a recession of course people will be out of work. Some people got degrees in a line of work that's slow to cycle. Naturally they have to be patient. This article is jumping to a foregone conclusion.

If you're wanting to say that the old generation knows best just come out and say it. Be proud. Don't spin around in circles count to 3 and confuse everyone by running outside through the back door.

I think it's funny that you--the same people who got us here--are now criticizing how we are dealing with this economy. Remember that your generation is also the one that got us into this crisis. We are supposed to figure out a way to live through it and pay your way through retirement without really having any guarantee that we will ever reap the benefits of it. It's not that we are not hard working. We were pushed to get these advanced degrees. We were pushed to take on all this debt. We were told how this was "good debt." There are two more things that we aren't doing that you did. We aren't getting married at 18 and we aren't having children until much later--if at all. Why? Because we have been tainted by your irresponsible relationships that have shaped the way that we conduct ourselves with our partners; and we can barely figure out how to take care of ourselves let alone children. Congratulations, boomers! You built a house over quicksand and now you're complaining that it's falling in the ground.