photo: AFLCIO2008/ BY-NC-SA

As LAPD Chief Bratton announces his resignation to pursue opportunities into the private sector, I can't help but wonder if the move is in response to the economic uncertainty of the workforce spreading to the public sector.  Two weeks ago my father unexpectedly told me that after 30 years of working for the telephone company, he retired so he could pursue his own artistic passions. As more baby-boomers are entering the age of retirement, I wonder how people of their generation, who have been defined by their value of hard work, will define themselves now that their work is done. While Gen-Xers are defined by their entrepreneurial savvy and the current generation is being defined by the economic crisis that has gripped the nation, it looks like baby-boomers might be the last to successfully navigate the job maze.

According to a May study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, only 19.7% of all 2009 college graduates who applied for jobs, actually got hired. In 2008, the rate was 26%, down from 51% in 2007. Currently, it seems that the gates to themaze are closing. In addition to college grads not being able to find jobs, the Department of Labor reports that despite rising unemployment rates since the recession, people over 55 are staying in the workforce in larger numbers.

While at age 56 my father narrowly escaped the category of people over 55 and still working, my brother, a 2008 graduate of UCSC, has yet to find gainful employment. In some strange way, I have a bird’s eye view over the job maze, checking it out on both ends. What I’m seeing now is a paradigm shift. Because the economy is in such a weak position, employees like my father, and possibly Chief Bratton, are seeking to define themselves by the work they do for themselves, as opposed to the work they do for other organizations.  After all, the titles of "Telephone Frames Technician" and "Chief of Police" can definitely undermine an individual's identity. By working for themselves, they can create their own capacity, which is probably more important to this generation, especially as the institutions who created these titles are in trouble.

And it is this same economy’s position that is causing students, who have been told all their lives that a good education and a college degree can keep them from working at fast food restaurants, to seek more humbling job titles, such as "crewmember," "courtesy clerk," or "sales rep." Some, like my brother, still view certain job titles as “beneath them.”

One graduate of Monroe College, in NY is suing her alma mater for $70,000 because of their inability to find her gainful employment. As many students and colleges are watching this case closely, I can’t help but smirk at the real problem with the current generation; it’s sense of entitlement. While the point is hammered over the heads of young people that a good education equals success, there are a host of things that schools and parents are not emphasizing that could possibly be the cause of the current predicament. Things such as dedication, humility, and resilience -- things the baby-boomer generation know all too well.

These current times are testing not only the risk taking ability of the baby boom generation, but the humility of the Entitlement generation.   In a job maze whose entry is slim, and whose exit doesn’t hold much cheese, I think for now it’s best we all get in where we fit in.   It's just as important, also, to know when it’s time to make a graceful exit.