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New Rochelle's Jim Maisano Discusses Unemployed College Grads

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- This article was written by Jim Maisano, vice chair of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, who represents New Rochelle, Pelham and Pelham Manor.

Westchester County Legislator Jim Maisano.

Westchester County Legislator Jim Maisano.

Photo Credit: File

Earlier this year, I noticed a brief article, Look to Smartphones for Unemployment Solutions, in the New York Post business section, and it has popped back into my mind several times since then, so I thought it should be shared: http://nypost.com/2015/01/31/look-to-smartphones-for-unemployment-solutions/

The premise of the article is that about half the students graduating college are unemployed, despite the fact many companies cannot find adequate job candidates with the necessary technical skills for the modern marketplace. I find this remarkable - why don't young people leaving college have marketable degrees, especially ones that reflect the education necessary to perform available technical jobs? What are these "hot" technical jobs with nice starting salaries? The article cites mobile data engineers, wireless network engineers and mobile app developers for tablets and smartphones. 

According to the article, 3.5 million technical jobs go unfilled. A tech executive stated that once promising technical candidates are identified, firms "need to hire quickly and be prepared to extend compensations and benefits packages that beat what competing firms are willing to offer.”

It certainly troubles me that kids are graduating with massive debt, in particular from private colleges with huge tuitions, and yet, they leave college with degrees that don't allow them to qualify for the actual jobs available.

Why aren't colleges training kids properly for real world jobs? What an incredible disconnect between colleges and economic realities. I'm glad my son is only in eighth grade - we have time for research to ensure his major lands him a good job when he graduates college in 2023.

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