By Rebecca Tolpin ’14, Staff Writer

Many ambitious young men and women, freshly minted college graduates, are ready to work hard to land high-paying jobs. Many graduates can see themselves in fast track positions working diligently at brand new desks in well-lighted offices. Many start taking under-market pay for jobs, because they have the promise of achieving this dream.

Unfortunately, there are actually very few people who succeed. Top tier jobs are hard to reach in a prospering economy; now that it is not prospering it is even harder. A person must have a combination of luck, skill, and understanding of company politics in order to push through the crowd and stand out as a top runner. According to an article in The Economist, The Proust Index, the unemployment rate in America consists of “8.3% of the labor force, its 1983 level.” In the US and other nations’ economies, countries have gone back in time in terms of the annual GDP per person, house prices (adjusted to inflation), and other factors. For one, the standard of living has gone down. The recession has been going on now for more than three years. How can young Americans hope for job security when their job could be replaced and they have no chance of moving into a higher position? It is easy for a company to hire a lower paid person willing to work, take advantage of their hard work, and never reward them.

In the past, young adults unsure about their new jobs kept backup plans in case they found themselves wanting an out. However, the plan B jobs are also disappearing. Another strong force of the economy is taking them away and shipping them overseas, to Asia. Jobs such as software development and accounting are moving to India, China, and the Philippines for less money. Technology has also played a role. Tax accountants lose clients to Turbotax. Graphic designers have been replaced by Photoshop. Also, small shopkeepers have been replaced by Walmart, Duane Reade, and Home Depot. Small businesses are not making money, but big corporations are.

A young graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, from Newark Academy, received an internship during her sophomore year at college at an investment banking company. However, the job that came out of the internship post graduation provided her with tough working conditions. The hours were long; she never saw daylight. Judging this job to be low quality, she began a new career advertising. Many people could not handle the working conditions in this investment banking firm either and left as well.  One notable hardship in this economy is that there aren’t many options; she was lucky. In addition, another young graduate of a prestigious college worked in real estate postgraduate was fired and subsequently has been unemployed since 2010. Some become stuck unfortunately in dead-end jobs.

As the unemployment rate would suggest, many Americans are struggling. It would appear that the best thing to do in this economy to succeed is to have a wide skill set, to be able to adapt to any type of job. The age of specialization is over.