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 Editorials | At Issue | July 2005 
Graduates Struggle to Find Work, Look to U.S. for Jobs
 Ana Maria Salazar - The Herald Mexico
Mexico's youth time bomb is ticking and the question is, when will it blow up? I apologize for using silly clichés, but I am still struggling to find words to describe the current crisis facing young Mexican professionals and how its repercussions will be felt in the upcoming years.
There was a series of articles published by El Universal last month reporting on two studies, one by the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) and the second by the International Labor Organization (ILO).
These reports portray a very grim future for young Mexican professionals.
According to the UAM report, 80 percent of the 360,000 new professionals graduating from Mexican universities have not found employment in their field of study. An ILO report provides a similar assessment: 40 percent of new graduates can't find a job, of the 60 percent who do, 30 percent won't find work in their fields.
This means that Mexico's university graduates are either unemployed or underemployed and competing with those who do not have university degrees.
The news gets worse. The ILO sheds even a darker future for new university graduates: only 10 percent will earn more then 7,000 pesos upon graduation. After a summary reading of these reports, parents must wonder if it is really worth the sacrifice and expense of investing in a university education for their children.
The usefulness of a university degree will be questioned even more if the unemployment rates do not change in the next couple of years. According to the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information) 2004 National Survey, those who have university and graduate degrees have a 3.8 percent unemployment rate compared to those who have not finished their primary education, who have a 2.5 percent unemployment rate. For those with a high school (preparatoria) degree the unemployment rate was the highest at 5.0 percent. The results of this report could discourage Mexicans from finishing high school.
In an interview with the recently appointed Secretary of Labor Javier Salazar Saenz for my daily radio program, I expected him to be defensive, as many Mexican officials are, when confronted with negative statistics or reports. Secretary Salazar was refreshingly candid and honest when describing the depth of the problem. He said that only two of every 10 university graduates will find employment! When asked what could be done about this problem, he said future professionals should take a strategic approach when choosing a field of study since young people were selecting careers that were already overcrowded. His agency has created a website (www.observatoriolaboral.gob.mx) that provides detailed information about the labor market for future professionals. For example, the website definitely discourages anyone from studying law or medicine.
Warning future young professionals from investing in oversaturated fields is a laudable effort, but the truth of the matter is it does not solve the problem by a long run. In fact, there are no new reforms in the pipeline that would help stimulate the job market in the next couple of years.
As the NAFTA accord opens up the possibility of professionals working in all three countries (Mexico, the United States and Canada), will Mexican professionals be able to compete with their counterparts in Canada and the United States? Probably not.
What will happen with the huge sea of unemployed young professionals? Unfortunately, like many who do not find opportunities in Mexico, they will look to the north and risk their lives crossing the border to get to the United States. If they are going to compete for jobs that do not require a university degree, might as well get a better paid job in the United States.
The issue of employment must be a priority for the candidates running in the 2006 presidential elections. But even more important is providing opportunities for Mexico's future. Right now there are entire communities in Mexico that are void of men, as they migrate to the United States to work. Now Mexico will be exporting their unemployed professionals north of the border. How sad! Mexico's most important investment, its young professionals, will have no other recourse but to look for low-paying jobs in the United States.
Ana Maria Salazar Slack is a former White House, Pentagon and State Department official during the Clinton Administration. She hosts the only nationwide Englishspeaking news program in Mexico. For time and stations go to www.imagen.com.mx/news or write to anamaria@imagen.com.mx. |
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