Young Workers' Outlook

Future Work Expectations

Today's young workers prepared for the workforce in the shadow of the Great Recession. As a result, there is clearly anxiety among young individuals when thinking about their job prospects. According to Pew's studies, from 1998 and 2009, "Young workers feel more vulnerable than they used to. In a 1998 survey, 65 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds working full time or part time said they were extremely or very confident that they could find another job if they lost or left their current job. The share of highly confident fell dramatically to 25 percent in 2009. It has rebounded somewhat since then (to 43 percent in the current survey) but is still nowhere near the 1998 level."⁴⁵

In the Survey of Young Workers, 40 percent of respondents have held one, full-time job for the past year (figure 18). Another 13 percent have supplemented a full-time job with part-time work during the past year. Fourteen percent of respondents have held a single full-time job for the past five years. Another 30 percent have supplemented a full-time job with part-time work during the past five years. Some respondents have already held more than one full-time job. Six percent of respondents held more than one full-time job in the past year, and 26 percent held more than one full-time job in the past five years.

Many respondents reported working more than one job at a time. In fact, the number of respondents who work simultaneous jobs is increasing. Forty-seven percent of those who worked multiple jobs in the past year worked more than one job at the same time, while 38 percent of those who worked multiple jobs in the past five years worked more than one job at a time.

Many respondents who have worked more than one job in the past five years are satisfied (50 percent) or very satisfied (17 percent) with their work arrangements. Thirty-three percent of respondents who have worked more than one job in the past five years are dissatisfied with their work relationships. Interestingly, there is no correlation between satisfaction and whether an individual worked more than one job at the same time.

According to the survey, young workers expect greater job stability in the future (figure 19). Forty-four percent of respondents expect to hold a single full-time job in the next year. The survey showed that many young workers may have difficulty imagining five years in to the future as a nearly equal 43 percent expect to have a single, full-time job for the next five years. Only 3 percent expect to have multiple part-time jobs in the next five years.

Those who expect to work more than one job also expect to manage more simultaneous jobs. Sixty-one percent of those who expect to work multiple jobs in the next year also expect to work more than one job at the same time, while 38 percent of those who expect to work multiple jobs in the next year do not expect to work more than one job at the same time.

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Young Workers' Future Outlook

Although general optimism about the future has decreased since the Great Recession, young people continue to be more optimistic than the general population. According to a 2014 Gallup poll, 30 percent of Americans overall said it is a good time to find a quality job, while 46 percent of respondents ages 18 to 29 reported that this is a good time to find a quality job. The latest Gallup report continues a positive trend on this indicator for the overall population since reaching a low point of 8 percent in 2011. The recent numbers have not reached the pre-recession level of 2007 when 48 percent of the population reported it to be a good time to find a quality job.⁴⁶

Likewise, respondents to the Survey of Young Workers are generally optimistic about the future. Comparable with the Gallup poll, 45 percent of survey respondents are optimistic about their future job opportunities compared with 21 percent who are pessimistic (figure 20). The remaining 34 percent are not sure about their future job opportunities.

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The Impact of Education, Job Experience, and Income on Optimism

Optimistic respondents were asked to describe, in their own words, what makes them feel optimistic about their job futures. These respondents most commonly attributed their positive outlook to their level of education or their field of study (figure 21).

What makes me feel optimistic about a future job is that I'm in school studying and learning the field. I will also intern before I graduate so I can ensure that I am fully ready.

The field I am in is always in high demand. I have a college degree so I feel confident I could find another job if something were to happen with my current job, however I am confident I will keep my current job for a while.

Another sizable group of optimistic respondents attributed their outlook to their work experience or job market opportunities.

I believe that with my accrued experience in medical device assembly, there may be other opportunities to expand in this area in the future. There are at least two other larger medical device companies in the area I live around.

Economy is slowly recovering, and Boston has plenty of white-collar jobs for people with financial background.

As the Survey of Young Workers has revealed, education has a critical impact on young workers. The survey data show that respondents' optimism about their future goes hand-in-hand with higher levels of education. For example, 35 percent of respondents with a high school education, 59 percent with a bachelor's degree, and 68 percent with a professional or doctorate degree are optimistic about their job future. Being enrolled in an education program has an impact as well, as 57 percent of current students are optimistic about their job future. In addition, being enrolled full time is associated with greater rates of optimism (59 percent) than being enrolled part time (51 percent).

Because education is correlated with numerous other factors that may affect a respondent's optimism about the labor market, regression analysis was used to control for these other characteristics. The regression analysis confirmed that being "optimistic" is significantly affected by level of education, having a paid job, and income.

Respondents who obtained early job experience during their schooling reported higher levels of optimism than those who did not hold a job prior to completing school. More specifically, respondents who held paid jobs during high school or college are more optimistic (51 percent and 55 percent, respectively) about their own future than those who lacked this job experience (37 percent and 42 percent, respectively).

Furthermore, respondents who are currently working a paid job are more likely to be optimistic about their job future (51 percent) than those who are not employed (35 percent). Likewise, respondents with a full-time, permanent job are more likely to be optimistic than those with a part-time or contingent job. Respondents with full-time jobs are more optimistic (54 percent) than those with part-time jobs (47 percent). Respondents with permanent jobs are more optimistic about their future (56 percent) than respondents working temporary positions (45 percent).

Respondents who used their education to help define a career path are more optimistic than other respondents. For example, respondents who reported working in a field closely related to their education are more optimistic (66 percent) than respondents who are not (42 percent). Furthermore, respondents who view their job as a "stepping stone to a career" or a "career" are more optimistic (52 percent and 71 percent, respectively) than respondents who view their employment as "just a job" and those who do not see "opportunities for advancement" (37 percent and 41 percent, respectively).

As noted, the respondents' optimism also increases with their salary and wages. Respondents who are satisfied with their current compensation are more likely to be optimistic (65 percent) about their future. Respondents who are able to cover their monthly household expenses (52 percent) as well as those who reported they could cover their expenses if out of work for four weeks (64 percent) are more optimistic than those who are not able to cover their expenses.

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The Impact of Economic Opportunity on Pessimism

Respondents who are pessimistic or unsure about their job opportunities were also asked to describe, in their own words, what makes them feel this way. A lack of opportunity in the economy, a lack of job experience, and a lack of education caused these respondents the greatest amount of concern
(figure 22).

I am currently studying in the business field. With the unemployment rate being high for a moment. I don't expect to quickly find a job with so many people graduating in the same year.

I don't have a college degree, and even those people I know with them are largely unemployed or in service jobs like mine.

So many employers require past experience, but being a college grad means I don't have any experience yet. How am I supposed to get experience if I can't get a job?

The regression analysis noted above also revealed that being "pessimistic" is significantly, adversely affected by the respondent's race, being in the wealthiest income bracket, marital status, and having a paid job. (Box 3 briefly discusses the effect of geography.)

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Importance of Steady Employment

Overall, young workers prefer steady employment (67 percent) to higher pay (30 percent) when seeking and selecting a job. In particular, respondents with work experience prefer steady pay and are developing a career. Respondents who held a paid job during high school are more likely to prefer steady pay (72 percent), as are those who held a paid job during college (70 percent). In addition, respondents that are working in their field of study are more likely to prefer steady employment (70 percent). Furthermore, respondents who are in a "career" or a "stepping-stone-to-a-career" job prefer steady employment (71 percent). Those who have had a promotion in the past year with a pay increase (71 percent) or see the potential for a promotion (70 percent) prefer steady employment.

A small number of characteristics define the 30 percent of respondents who prefer higher pay. Only the youngest respondents, those under 21 years of age with minimal exposure to the labor market, prefer higher pay (38 percent). Likewise, respondents with a less defined career path and who are less financially stable are more likely to prefer higher pay. Furthermore, respondents who describe their work as "just a job" (35 percent), rather than a career, are more likely to prefer higher pay than steady employment.

In addition, respondents with less stable financial conditions are more likely to prefer higher pay than their counterparts. For example, respondents who earn hourly pay (32 percent) are more likely to prefer higher pay. Respondents who currently receive parental assistance in the form of rent (32 percent), educational loans (33 percent), and health care (35 percent) are more likely to prefer higher pay. Respondents who would prefer to be working more hours (35 percent) and those who are dissatisfied with their work schedule (43 percent) are more likely to prefer higher pay.

A Pew study conducted from 1998 to 2009 found that "young workers feel more vulnerable than they used to." In 1998, the survey found 65 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds working full time or part time said they were extremely or very confident that they could find another job if they lost or left their current job. By 2009, the share highly confident fell dramatically to 25 percent. Currently, according to Pew, this figure has rebounded to 43 percent but is still nowhere near the 1998 level.⁴⁷

Interestingly, Pew also found that "for young adults, bad times don't trump optimism. Among those age 18 to 34, nearly 9 in 10 (88 percent) say they either have or earn enough money now or expect they will in the future. Only 9 percent say they don't think they will ever have enough to live the life they want. Adults ages 35 and older are much less optimistic as 28 percent say they don't anticipate making enough money in the future. While young people are less likely now than they were before the recession to say they currently have enough income, their level of optimism is undiminished from where it was in 2004."⁴⁸

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References

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