This year’s job market has been bleak, to say the least. Layoffs hit the highest level in 14 years; job openings are barely budging; and quits figures are plummeting. It’s no wonder people feel stuck and discouraged—especially as many candidates have been on the job hunt for a year.
But some mid-career professionals are working with the cards they’ve been dealt by going back to school. Many are turning to data analytics, cybersecurity, AI-focused courses, health care, MBA programs, or trade certifications for an “immediate impact on their careers,” Metaintro CEO Lacey Kaelani told Fortune.
But while grad school can certainly offer the opportunity to level-up your career once you’ve completed a program, it comes with financial and personal sacrifices, like time. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, one year of grad school, on average, costs about $43,000 in tuition. That’s nearly 70% of the average salary in the U.S.



Getting a degree? But that’s what started the problem in the first place!
This is all corporate tech stuff anyhow. Inflating an already inflated market destined to be whittled down by AI is probably one of the most short term goals iv ever heard
Apprenticeships or career tech certificates can help.
I’m a journey level worker and I’m back in school. Construction has been recession level for at least a couple years in my area and it’s getting worse fast. They’re purging anyone female or brown from the unions in my area because that’s DEI. We’ve had incidents of union officers threatening to lynch black apprentices and hanging nooses, I’ve seen female apprentices complain about SA and getting blackballed. It’s back to the good ol boy system full force in construction right now. I’d say 90% of these high paid white nepo baby construction guys are rabid Trump supporters. It’s full FBI friends, brothers and in-laws only and your tax dollars pay for these apprenticeships and a lot of projects these guys pull six figures on so telling people to go into an apprenticeship is just a racist dog whistle unless they’re related to someone
I mean we’re seeing the same thing in Canada only it’s every racial/religious enclave doing it. Indians are redrawing the caste lines, Jews are pushing out gentiles, Chinese are holding condo board meetings in Mandarin and then using them to force out other people…
This is what happens when people let themselves be divided; they’re going to carve up the pittance left to us while leaving the rest of the pie to the sickeningly wealthy.
Who’s doing all the work? As a homeowner, I’ve definitely seen stereotypes in action for work I’ve had done. Replacing my roof was typical. All white guys selling me on how wonderful it’ll be. But it was a crew of Hispanics that came out to do the work, and they hustled like no ones business. I know who I’d trust to get a job done.
Actually similar deal for my electrician. I went through several companies of delays and excessive fees for truck rolls, upselling, etc. but I found this local guy who happens to be Hispanic, who is very responsive, cheaper, and does an outstanding job
I know who to trust to give me a good deal, excellent service, great response, and they’re not the white glad-handlers. I understand good work is not a racial characteristic but perhaps the extra hurdles to the business make it so. I would never claim the white guts can’t do the work but if you’re firing in a racial manner, how the heck do you have enough people to get the job done? And yes I’m a white guy who has always valued competent hard work in myself and others
Well… thanks for the racist dog whistle accusation. I’m a light bringer — I’m trying to be encouraging. Career tech certificates in medical are making hundreds of thousands of people of all races and genders eligible for careers starting 60k, 70k, up to 110k. Radiology tech is just one of many.
Onward.
It wasn’t meant as an accusation. It’s just a statement of facts. I don’t expect you to know that if you’re not in the trades but I have a lot of trauma from seeing horrible things happening to people around racism and sexism in the trades
the worth of a degree is highly correlated to the field of study and the institution of study.
a lot of people get bogus degrees from bogus fields of study and are shocked they can’t get productive high-paying employment…
The job market is in the shitter and you are blaming the people trying to find jobs and assuming they can’t because they got a “bogus degree”… That’s a very boomer response of you.
job market for what exactly? what jobs are they trying to find exactly?
job market is great for some professions, shit for others. yeah for entry level tech it’s shit because they massive overhired during the pandemic and are still oversupplied with too many shitty coders because there is a massive oversupply now as everyone chased computer science for quick and easy money. for nursing you can make a killing if you are willing to travel nurse or get yourself into certain specialties. but nursing is hard work and a lot of people don’t want to do it.
the devil is in the details. there is no generalized job market where average joe can just get a 100K job with a English/psych degree from a state college. all those jobs requires specialized degrees, experience, and connections, years of effort to get your foot in the door.
industries come and go and oftentimes you have to move with the times and the geography. my brother has been unemployed for 5 years… but it’s because he’s a stupid ass who refuses to move or take a job he thinks he is ‘below’ him. (less than 300K salary at a big corp) and every employer can see that attitude he has and his inflexible arrogance and why would they want such a person on their team? many people are their own worst enemy when it comes to employment.
having interviewed people over the years… 99% of candidates are eliminated because suck and fuck up the interview process, or are applying for a job they know nothing about. Out of 500 resumes you might get 5-15 that are actually relevant to the position and show the candidate actaully is familiar with the company and the position, of that group maybe 5 get an interview and 1-2 are actually desirable hires.