As of December 2017, the unemployment rate in Minnesota dipped to 3.1%. And, according to DEED (Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development), Fillmore County hovers closer to 2.9%.
And, if you ask any business owner about their hiring prognosis, they are less and less optimistic about finding candidates to fill their open positions. From 2008 to 2018, we have seen a dramatic shift in the employment market. The improving economy may have something to do with the pendulum swinging in favor of the most employable Americans. It could also have something to do with the nearly 71 million boomers who are moving in the direction of retirement. I think we’ve all heard that there will not be enough people to fill their jobs.
Believe it or not, there are highly employable young adult males sitting on couches across America ready to take on the world. Not necessarily in the workforce or even in the real world for that matter. They are playing games like Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Fortnite online with other young non-working men just like themselves. It’s a pretty good gig, if you can garner the support of parents who will provide you with housing, Cheetos, Mountain Dew, a high speed Internet connection, unlimited playing time on an Xbox or PlayStation 4 — and zero expectations to establish goals beyond basement dwelling.
While they may be aspiring YouTubers, showing off their gaming skills to a crowd of 10-year-olds, they apparently have no plans of contributing anything to the real world.
I recently attended the 2018 Explore Minnesota Tourism conference in Mankato, Minn., in the first week of March. It was like attending a marketing conference on steroids. The staff at Explore Minnesota did a dynamite job of lining up speakers and special sessions that covered the gamut.
One of the most compelling speakers was economist Anirban Basu, Chairman and CEO of the Baltimore-based Sage Policy Group, Inc. He touched on a number of areas relating to our economy, but one of the most interesting pieces of information related to employment since The Financial Crisis of 2008.
Basu presented research supported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, pointing out that only 88.7% of males between the ages of 24-34 are participating in the U.S. Labor Force. And, only 73.8% of males between the ages of 20-24 are participating in the U.S. Labor Force. According to Basu’s research, the males who are not working are also not going to college.
“What are they doing?” he said. “They’re playing video games.”
The room full of more than 500 tourism marketers looked at each other in awe.
So, how do we turn these gamers into workers? And, how do we prevent another generation from following this same trend?
The answers may seem pretty simple. Right parents?