Photo Attribution to TheQuiltedLion on Flickr
The current global economic climate and work force instability has been no stranger to the US job market. Workforce dynamics are shifting as the Baby Boomers start retiring and Gen Y continues to join the ranks of corporate America. The nation’s unemployment rate has risen to a 26-year-high of 10.2%. Everyday there are more cases of people struggling to find jobs, cope with layoffs and find professional clarity in this brutal job market. How does one respond to this uncertainty? Here’s one way to cope: Leave the country.
Pursuing overseas work has a fresh appeal to Americans in this current job market. The pool of American globe-trotting professionals is still relatively small in comparison to previous years, however there are notable changes taking place.
Working abroad versus working within the US has largely impacted the younger generations that are still in college or about to graduate. “Charles Wang, an industrial engineering major at Georgia Institute of Technology, worked as a project manager for the United Parcel Service in Dubai after his junior year from July 2008 until last May.” “Because of … my inability to find good jobs in the U.S.,” says Wang, 22, he plans to return to Dubai for a permanent job after graduating next month and stay until the U.S. job market is “back to normal.” (More U.S. job hunters look for work in other countries, USA Today)
This global shift of the US graduating workforce offers this younger generation huge benefits for their long-term professional careers. Robbie Falconer, a junior at the University of California-Berkeley, interned with Morningstar Financial in Madrid, Spain. “The investment banking industry is ultra competitive,” explains Falconer. “There are more sharp people graduating from top schools that are looking for jobs than there are positions. International experience with the world’s leading provider of financial data gives me a demonstrable advantage over other job seekers” (Intrax Internships Abroad Secures Record Number of Prestigious International Internships, PR NewsWire).
These international work opportunities provide the growing number of young professionals the advantage of distinguishing themselves from the pool of equally qualified candidates. While the job market shift has hit this country hard, it also has opened the doors to a more global and mobile workforce.
Do you have experience as a young professional drive to work abroad because of the US economy? How do you think that this will affect the US economy in the long run? We would love to hear your insights.
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