Rhonica Petty has a journalism degree from the University, but has spent the last four years waiting tables instead of writing stories.
“Pretty much everyone who works (at West Bros.) has a degree,” said Petty, an assistant manager and one of 65,000 alumni living in-state. “There just aren’t jobs in this town for graduates.”
Recent figures from the Oregon Employment Department validate Petty’s claim: Only two of the 20 jobs with the most current openings require a college degree.
The top 20 jobs for 2002 include retail at 3,029 openings, office clerks at 1,300 and higher education instructors at 601. The list doesn’t consider rates of economic growth in particular industries. For instance, the demand for computer support specialists is expected to increase 68.1 percent by 2010.
Officials admit that having a degree doesn’t equal an instant job.
“We’ve got people with University degrees working at The Home Depot,” OED workforce analyst Carol Fairbourn said. She added that most employers in Oregon are looking for people who have general skills. “The more skills you have, the more employable you’ll be,” she said.
Petty said Eugene is a tough place to use her journalism degree. She worked in an advertising firm after graduation but hasn’t been able to land a job at a newspaper. She plans to move east or to a big city within a few years.
Paul Stieber, spokesman for the University Alumni Association, said other University graduates may need to move to Portland or another big city to find employment.
“More than 31,000 (alumni) live in the Portland area,” Stieber said. “Clearly people are going to have better prospects in a metro area.”
Stieber admitted that if he were back in college this year, he’d consider going to graduate school or moving elsewhere.
“Times are tough,” he said. “Jobs are harder to get here than anywhere else.”
State Economic Analyst Dwayne Stevenson said students with degrees should apply for jobs for which they’re passionate — where students can honestly say, “This is what I would do if no one were paying me for it.”
Students who delay graduation until the economy recovers might still have problems finding work in their field. Even if the job market rebounds later this year, economists predict Oregon will take at least one additional year to recover because of how far the state’s economy has fallen.
Many graduates have followed Stevenson’s advice and landed jobs that they love. Shane Ayrsman, who works at Paul’s Bicycle Way of Life on Alder Street, has an environmental communications degree from Antioch University McGregor, but pays the rent by repairing bikes instead.
Bill Chase, manager of the Alder Street Paul’s, said most of the employees at the shop are college-educated.
Chase agreed with what Fairbourn and other state officials already know: Oregon’s economy is not necessarily nicest to people with college diplomas.
“There’s an awful lot of unemployed people with degrees,” Fairbourn said. “But I don’t see too many unemployed plumbers or electricians right now.”