<p>My S, junior engineering major has found that there are jobs and internships, just not as plentiful as in other years. I've heard from parents at his university that their seniors are having a tough time finding a job.</p>
<p>My S decided to take a co-op and delay graduation, mainly because of the economy. He also really liked this company. His summer internship ended last summer early because of lay offs. It was an automobile parts manufacturer, not one of the big three. The company that hired him last summer wanted him back the next year before all of the layoffs.</p>
<p>I am still nervous that his co-op might not happen as this company is laying off people. It's very dependent on the global economy and defense spending, we will see how things go.</p>
<p>My S does go to school in Michigan, which may have the worst economy in the country.</p>
<p>The country still need to find millions of new teachers in the next few years. Also, a number of engineering firms are actively ramping up in anticipation of the billion dollars boondoggle that will finance "necessary" construction projects. Expect a LOT of roads to "nowhere" and many "needed" construction projects to be dusted off by cities and states worried to lose out in Obama's Bonanza. </p>
<p>Of course, not everyone will benefit from the upcoming extravaganza.</p>
<p>Two of my cousins had children who have lost teaching jobs. One who was teaching for one year and the second who had been teaching for two years have both been told no job for next year. Last in, first out. So, it's not just the new grads but the recent grads are also being affected.</p>
<p>There are a few sectors of education that are affected because of a small surplus. </p>
<p>The teaching jobs that see curtailment are in areas such as physical education, social sciences, and perhaps early education. There is still a large demand for teaching positions that require more mastery of contents than mere "pedagogy," namely math and sciences, especially in the higher grades of K-12. Also, Obama's expected windfall is expected to reverse the fiscal conservatism that was imposed on many public school systems. Add the expected retirement of many teachers in the period 2009-2016, and education remains a field where the well-qualified (and not so well-qualified) should still find plenty of opportunities and a reasonable salary.</p>
<p>my sister is in the oil biz, so she's lived through some flush and dismal times. She made a masters program last for years until times got better.</p>
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The country still need to find millions of new teachers in the next few years. Also, a number of engineering firms are actively ramping up in anticipation of the billion dollars boondoggle that will finance "necessary" construction projects. Expect a LOT of roads to "nowhere" and many "needed" construction projects to be dusted off by cities and states worried to lose out in Obama's Bonanza.
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In both Virginia and Washington teacher layoffs are happening. I don't think the overall picture is that good for any kind of teacher.
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<p>Are those actual layoffs or announcements of potential staff reductions? </p>
<p>Fwiw, here's an example of California, a state that is facing one heck of a deficit and has planned massive reductions for the future:</p>
<p>By state law, school districts must inform educators by March 15 if there's a chance they will not have jobs in the coming school year. School boards tend to issue more tentative layoff notices than they believe they'll need, preparing for the worst case. </p>
<p>Between now and mid-May, when actual layoff notices are due, administrators will be trying to figure out how much money they'll have. Layoffs are always a consideration in searching for large budget cuts because salaries and benefits account for 85 percent or more of school budgets. Although a state budget deal gives the broad outlines of how much education funding will be available for the fiscal year that begins July 1, school districts still have not finished calculating what it means to their individual budgets. In addition, officials are still trying to figure out how the recently passed federal economic stimulus package will affect their budgets. </p>
<p>The big unknown is how many federal dollars of that federal stimulus will make it through through Sacramento to the school districts. So the real question will be about the stickiness of the Sacramento fingers and the obvious tentation to "borrow" a good chunk of that porcine Obama's windfall. </p>
<p>However, it might be interesting to put some perspectives on the massive impact of the injection by the Federal Government of 50 to 150 Billions in the education sector. One perspective is that under the last "education" democrat POTUS the budget of the Education Department actually shrunk in real dollars to about 30 billions.</p>
<p>I'm with taxguy in that there are opportunities for students in engineering, computer science, or accounting grads. However, I think it is more competitive and you have stronger competition right now. My daughter is getting some acceptances to top PdD programs in CS, which was planned for (the CS PhD, not the acceptance!), but not as many as hoped for as the applicant pool is much larger and much more qualified than ever in history. Econ majors are suffering, but the best are getting into fantasic programs and will be better in the long run for it, than running out to wall street as an BA.</p>
<p>Agree BrownParent--one also has to be willing to move to where the jobs are located. Engineering jobs are available on a competitive basis and willingness to locate. Check the sites of many engineering companies for openings.</p>
<p>Agreed that being open geographically is a valuable attitude to have. Electrical Engineering son had no geographic constraints and had two offers. Who knows what would have happened if he'd limited himself to a preferred city/state?</p>
<p>Any thoughts on how to encourage our math econ major dd soon to graduate form college? Grad school is not in her current future and she is contemplating accepting an offer to teach English in France in the fall.</p>
<p>Yes, for now. But when the economy improves, will the people you hire stay?</p>
<p>The company I work for recently hired two new people. Both are grossly overqualified for their jobs. I don’t see the point. I can’t see either of them staying with the company after things pick up.</p>
<p>DH and I finished our master’s degrees in structural engineering in May, 1986. We had excellent grades and good work experience. There were NO structural engineering jobs to be found in Texas. We sent out more than 270 resumes all over the country, and ended up in Portland, Maine. We were so happy to find work! Fortunately, we love it here and are glad we were open to living anywhere.</p>
<p>yes, Marian, they will stay. None are overqualified, and we pay them competitively. By the time we normally hire (usually closer to our summer ramp up), most resumes are off the street…not so this year.</p>
<p>ps…just put out a half dozen eng & science entry offers this past week.</p>