Over the last two years, perhaps the biggest challenge facing our nation has been the state of the American workforce. When President Obama hosted a discussion about job creation last December, he asked for input on opportunities and obstacles, and our friends at AfterCollege really stepped up to plate.
They hosted a forum in San Francisco on February 26th and the participants included experts in both the employment industry and academia. Roberto Angulo, CEO of AfterCollege, sat down with us to talk about entry level jobs, the recommendations that resulted from the forum, and more.
Tony Rosato: Thanks for joining us, Roberto. What was it specifically that that motivated you to host this forum?
Roberto Angulo: Well, we thought the forum hosted by the White House was a good idea, but we also saw the need to focus more on the needs of entry-level job seekers and recent grads who represent tomorrow’s talent. The majority of students who graduated last year are still unemployed and the prospects for this year’s graduates are not looking any better. As a result, we are seeing a lot of hopeful individuals whose talent and energy are going to waste. We are also seeing people go back to graduate school. Over-education is not the answer.
The youth unemployment problem is an economic one and it’s global, with many factors contributing to it. There are no silver bullets that will solve the issue, but at a minimum, we wanted to gather a good group of bright individuals who could have an open discussion and help generate recommendations that we could then give to policy makers. At the same time, we wanted to call attention to this demographic.
AfterCollege’s business consists of delivering relevant employment content to entry-level job seekers and to universities and at the same time, helping employers get access to talented pools of individuals. While our role is mainly to connect users and to deliver data from point A to point B, as a leader in our space, we felt compelled to go beyond our calling and to organize this initiative.
TR: The statistics you cite are pretty alarming: the unemployment rate for those under 25 is 19%, almost double the national rate of employment. Even with all the bad news we’ve heard about jobs in the last few years, I think that statistic would surprise most people. Any thoughts as to why we’re not talking about jobs for young people as much?
RA: Yes, a lot is going on that is overshadowing this problem. We have many unemployed people across all generations. While Gen Y is the most affected in terms of the numbers, we also have Baby Boomers and Gen Xers who have been laid off and as a result, they are losing their homes, spending less, and having more of a negative economic impact in the short term. There’s more of a sense of urgency in addressing the problem of general unemployment and helping people stay in their homes and maintain their purchasing power.
TR: How would you summarize the forum’s recommendations for entry level job growth?
RA: We covered a lot of topics and we were able to come away with four solid ideas that deserve further consideration. At a high level, our recommendations boiled down to:
1. Promoting skill-building across various disciplines and encouraging cultural competencies. One way to do this is through research grants that encourage collaboration among students from various majors.
2. Supporting funding for services that help students better present themselves to employers. These include career services at universities and tapping alumni as a resource for current students.
3. Encouraging paid internships so that economically disadvantaged individuals may participate. Internships increase the likelihood of full-time employment after graduation.
4. Supporting local training programs that help students maintain and sharpen their skills. Cities have problems to solve and local college students are more than capable of tackling these.
(Click here to download the full report.)
Tune in next week for Part II of my interview with Robert Angulo where we talk about some of the unexpected ideas that came out of the forum, obstacles to real entry level job growth and more!
