the commencement address that won't be given -- reich
Members of the Class of 2012,
As a former secretary of labor and current professor, I feel I owe it to you to tell you the truth about the pieces of parchment youre picking up today.
Youre f*cked.
Well, not exactly. But you wont have it easy.
First, youre going to have a hell of a hard time finding a job. The job market youre heading into is still bad. Fewer than half of the graduates from last years class have as yet found full-time jobs. Most are still looking.
Thats been the pattern over the last three graduating classes: Its been taking them more than a year to land the first job. And those who still havent found a job will be competing with you, making your job search even harder.
Contrast this with the class of 2008, whose members were lucky enough to get out of here and into the job market before the Great Recession really hit. Almost three-quarters of them found jobs within the year.