The following is a piece I wrote for another blog, collegejolt.com, a website run by College Prowler Publications that keeps high school students and college kids up to date and informed on all sorts of things from the latest episode of Gossip Girls to sports and collegiate news / advice to high school pre-frosh. I write the column ‘Congress and College,’ and here is my first piece on the new economy and how it could affect the value of different college majors.
My college, Cornell University, is separated into seven different schools: Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Architecture Art and Planning, Hotel Administration, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Human Ecology, and the School of Industrial Labor and Relations. So, when high school students apply to specific schools (as is the requirement), this arrangement naturally begs the question: what do I want to do with my life? Which, in turn, is often directly associated with an equally important question: what is going to make me money? Well, there is no ‘right answer,’ but with a new economy emerging, there are certainly some specific areas that look promising.
To get an idea of what is thriving in the job sector, let’s first check out what’s currently hurting. Of course, the first things to come to mind, the biggest, are the auto industry and the financial sector. Both ailing and striving to recover, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that now may not be the best time to pack up and move to Detroit to work on auto production, or speed off to the Big Apple to claim that dream job as a banker. At the same time however, there are specific caveats to each scenario.
Although the ailing banking and financial sector will contract and the number of available jobs for aspiring bankers and Wall Street economists will shrink, the general need for bright and creative economists and the opportunities for econ majors in other economic fields will continue to offer employment. Similarly, while automobile production is currently undoubtedly dwindling, there already is, and will continue to be, a great demand for designers and engineers to create the next generation of hybrid and energy-efficient cars. President Obama has already intervened in this field, as car companies in the future will have basic requirements and standards to maintain in regards to energy efficiency. Simultaneously, though, the supply of such jobs is subject to change, depending on the success of this new fleet of cars and the general public reaction to driving very different automobiles.
Which leads us to the biggest, (currently) the most promising industry to emerge; the ‘green-collar’ industry. According to the current issue of US News, President Obama has promised to create 5 million of these green-collar jobs. These jobs reach into the auto industry, energy industry – solar, wind, especially, and of course, lawmakers and lawyers to create regulations. In tandem with these, there will be plenty of opportunities in research, manufacturing and construction. So with Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus), where can high school and college students look to find promising majors?
Primarily sciences-oriented fields: engineering, pure science research, civil engineers and architects for developing the new infrastructure also included in Congress’s stimulus package, and lawyers, entrepreneurs, and businessmen to help shape and sell said emerging technology and lifestyles. While many economists point to a bright future in the next four years or so, those graduating and beginning work sooner will obviously find it much harder to obtain the success they want by working in fields that capitalize on people spending and indulging in luxuries; i.e, restaurant, hotel, travel, transportation, fine art, etc.
On the other hand though, students entering college in the next few years can most likely rest assured that a concentration in a science-oriented field such as the ones mentioned above will find good profit in the current administration’s implantation of the stimulus package.
I would also like to add, as this is a Cornellian-viewer dominated website, an elaboration upon the last few paragraphs. As I said, luxuries are certainly not a booming industry right now – as an employee in Ithaca at the Statler Hotel, and Outback Steakhouse in Virginia, I can personally attest to the shrinking amount of customers in this area over the past six months. Outback Steakhouse has gone so far as to completely revamp and revise their menu; the new one has slightly higher prices on previously cheap appetizers and side items, but now offers a plethora of choices under $15 in order to maintain their image as an affordable yet great choice in dining.
At the Statler, I work in the banquets kitchen, where we provide food for large gatherings, usually in the form of Cornell department meetings, business gatherings, weddings, seminars, and company conventions, conferences. This business has seen dramatic loss in profit, as well. Which makes me wonder about an article I recall reading a few months back about hotel executives lashing out against Congress for making regulations on company expenses used for travel and accommodation. A coincidence?
Obama can promise as many “green collar” jobs as he wants, but this industry will not grow until it actually becomes profitable. I don’t see this happening in the near future. People won’t simply turn “green” because they feel like doing a service to mother nature and father environment. Oh and don’t expect too many automobile alterations after Obama’s new emissions initiative. These kinds of laws have been in place for 30 years and have yet to drastically alter the auto fleets. Just watch, in 10 years I will still be able to buy that gas-guzzling 10-cylinder BMW m6 I’ve always wanted!
Yes, ultimately this all depends on whether or not these ideas and products actually ‘sell’ – if indeed there are changes made in the auto industry, then this is exactly what I was talking about when I said that the supply of said jobs depends directly with the success of these technologies.