Anonymous wrote:I’d like to know more about how the official statistics are calculated. I recently heard about the phenomenon of “ghost jobs” where companies advertise positions that they never intend to fill. Apparently this is a growing trend, but I don’t know how it might affect the statistics about job growth.

This is interesting— why are they doing this?

Anonymous wrote:23% of new Harvard MBA grads can’t find work. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswestfall/2025/01/15/when-harvard-mbas-cant-find-jobs-how-the-job-market-has-changed/

That’s because MBAs are bs.

Yes.

Anonymous wrote:23% of new Harvard MBA grads can’t find work. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswestfall/2025/01/15/when-harvard-mbas-cant-find-jobs-how-the-job-market-has-changed/

Honestly, having known a lot of Harvard MbAs, this is overdue, as they are not really skilled for anything. Decades ago, HBS was great at taking young people who’d grown up with a family business which they knew well and giving them the financial skills to run those businesses more effectively. Now they just have kids who know nothing who sit around and talk about fake projects. There was a study done that companies that hired Harvard mbas were much more likely to engage in layoffs. They don’t know how to do anything, they just know how to cut expenses.

People are flooding out of the federal government right now which is affecting the local labor market. I would not want to be a lawyer mid career looking right now without a book of business to bring.

CPA and accounting firms are all still short staffed though. I think IT jobs are also still sitting empty. Other high level or specialized stuff that people are not gojng into. I know a couple places that need finance directors or executive directors…..for high level stuff, the hole left by boomer retirement plus Gen Xers and moms leaving the workforce early during the pandemic has still not been totally filled.

If you’re looking for retail, food service, hospitality, etc jobs it’s a great market. But a computer science major who graduated last year can’t find work.

And then the jobs reports are usually revised a few weeks later downward.

Anonymous wrote:It's so sector dependent. My company is hiring across the country for in person engineering and software work as well as accountants and other positions. So few qualified candidates at all levels. People not knowing basic engineering principles coming out of school. We don't pay Amazon salaries but not bad either.

A big factor is employers requiring precise requirements to match job posting. You need to the precise mix of programming languages and work experience or don't make the cut -- in prior years you just needed generic skills and hard work and could learn on the job.

I’d like to know more about how the official statistics are calculated. I recently heard about the phenomenon of “ghost jobs” where companies advertise positions that they never intend to fill. Apparently this is a growing trend, but I don’t know how it might affect the statistics about job growth.

It's so sector dependent. My company is hiring across the country for in person engineering and software work as well as accountants and other positions. So few qualified candidates at all levels. People not knowing basic engineering principles coming out of school. We don't pay Amazon salaries but not bad either.

23% of new Harvard MBA grads can’t find work. https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswestfall/2025/01/15/when-harvard-mbas-cant-find-jobs-how-the-job-market-has-changed/

I know so many people recently unemployed in the DC market. Something is not adding up.

White collar recession

https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/whats-news/why-more-white-collar-workers-are-unemployed-for-longer-today/9131e30a-1aa9-40f6-9e23-f10e578d479c

Though I think executives are doing great, as they lay off more and more, and backfill with overseas labor or AI.

Anonymous wrote:Most jobs in America are not jobs that people on DCUM are applying for. They are relatively low paid service sector jobs. That is what drives the jobs report. That's why on the news when they discuss the jobs report they show stock video of "now hiring" signs in restaurant windows. The jobs report doesn't tell you anything about how people who looking for $150k gov't contracting jobs are doing. -An economist

+1. Exactly this.

Most jobs in America are not jobs that people on DCUM are applying for. They are relatively low paid service sector jobs. That is what drives the jobs report. That's why on the news when they discuss the jobs report they show stock video of "now hiring" signs in restaurant windows. The jobs report doesn't tell you anything about how people who looking for $150k gov't contracting jobs are doing. -An economist

Does anyone else feel that their experience applying for jobs doesn’t mirror the enthusiastic jobs report? Is there a good explanation for this?