It's got to be tough when you grew up being special (or at least that's what your boomer parents told you) and then you get slammed by this job market. The unemployment rate for workers aged 20 to 24 is now 15 percent, up from 10 percent a year ago, with young men faring worse. That includes recent college grads as well as young people who lost their jobs in this unending stream of layoffs.

If you fit that bill, I am truly sorry. It is just awful that the time of big dreams should become a big nightmare. Anyway, you may be interested in an event at St. Joe's tomorrow. Campus Philly, a local organization that wants to stop college graduates from leaving the region, is holding a combination job/graduate school fair from noon to 4 p.m. at the Upper/Lower Sports Complex (now there's a building waiting for some donor to slap a name on it. I'll give them 50 cents and they can call it the Von Bergen sports complex). That's on the new part of the campus across City Avenue from St. Joe's main quarters.

Obviously, as Campus Philly well knows, the region's college graduates aren't going to stay if they can't find work.

Click here to link to the event. They'd like you to pre-register. I'll probably show up and see who comes. Good luck. 

It's still tough out there for information technology professionals, according to a May survey of 1,900 hiring managers and IT recruiters conducted by Dice, a job board for tech people. Most, 81 percent, said they planned to scale back on hiring plans in the next six months. Layoffs are also planned, with 43 percent anticipating cutbacks. However, that's slightly better than Dice's November survey, when 48 percent said they would be laying off IT workers. Salaries are also affected. Only a third say salaries will stay steady. Salaries will dip slightly, say 41 percent, while 17 percent say to expect significant declines. 

"Many hiring managers report that the skill requirements for open positions are more demanding and hiring times are lengthening," Tom Silver, senior vice president of Dice, noted in an email. "While it's not surprising in this economy that companies are being selective, more than 90 percent of respondents indicated that they have at least one hard-to-find skill set or position to fill. This potentially equates to solid demand when the economy turns upward."

When it comes to college grads finding a job, two things are happening. One is that fewer are looking and two is that fewer are finding. Keep in mind that this data comes from a survey of 16,500 graduating seniors conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers from February through April 30. Things may have shifted somewhat since then. 

In the spring of 2007, before the recession began in December 2007, 64 percent of graduates had already applied (not looked for, but actually applied) for a job by the end of April. Of those applying, 51 percent had jobs by graduation. This year, only 59 percent started applying for jobs by the end of April. Of those, only one in five had a job by cap-and-gown day. 

It doesn't surprise me that kids coming out of college would be spooked by the economy. It's scary. It may be that they think that if they can hold out a little, it'll improve enough for them to find work. At the same time, NACE notes, more are planning to stay in school for graduate studies.

Accountants and engineers seem the most willing to apply for and accept jobs, perhaps because they feel the effort will pay off.

What's been the experience in your household?

In Monday's Philadelphia Inquirer, we ran an interview with the authors of  "How To Keep  Your Job In a Tough Competitive Market: 101 Strategies You Can Use Today." The tips, from local authors Bob Calandra and Michael J. Kitson, are mostly common sense, but I have one problem with them. It's kind of the same problem I have when people blame a person whose car has been stolen for leaving the door unlocked. Listen, you have a right to have your car be where you parked it -- even if the door is open and the keys are in the ignition. Stealing is wrong and it's not the victim's fault. It's that simple. 

It would be nice to imagine that companies actually care about the individual skills of their employees and I suppose they do, to some extent. But they also care which employees cost the most. They need to arrive at some bottom line, "right-sized" figure and getting there can be a crude process. I'd hate for people being booted from their jobs to be walking to the parking lot in tears saying, "Wow, I shouldn't have gone to my kid's graduation, or shouldn't have visited my mother in the hospital or I should I have stayed at work an extra hour that Tuesday."

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. How convenient to let companies off the hook when they are the ones doing the layoffs! I have no patience for lazy employees. But it shouldn't require a layoff to fire someone who isn't doing the job, assuming they've been given adequate support and training.    

Companies have a right to make a profit. Indeed, if they don't make more than it costs them to produce their goods or services, they don't have the ability to expand, invest and research. In general, a lay off indicates management failure -- failure to plan, failure to develop a product, failure to market it, failure to procure adequate financing, failure to manage expenses, including labor costs. Of course, in a tough economy, it's more difficult. That's why even as I say this next sentence, I would like to throw in a little mercy to these companies. Bottom line: Companies should feel ashamed when they have a lay off. They shouldn't make their employees feel ashamed for having been laid off. 

Think about this scenario: You've worked at a company for a long time, and truthfully, if you really admit it to yourself, you aren't as valuable a player as you'd like to be -- especially if you think the layoff wolf is prowling at the edge of the meadow. Maybe you've been distracted, or just a little too comfortable.

In today's Inquirer, I interviewed business writer Bob Calandra and management consultant Michael J. Kitson, two hockey pals who together wrote "How to Keep Your Job in a Tough Competitive Environment: 101 Strategies You Can Use Today." 

One I'd like to focus on is Number 39: Get Back Into the Game. "How you became a legend in your own mind doesn't really matter now. It's time for you to start breathing in the air at sea level. Forget the notion about blaming anyone but yourself for the shortcomings in your career." The authors suggest that you begin with brutally frank self-assessment. Are you getting tapped for important assignment? What can you learn about yourself from projects that stalled or failed? How do your colleagues treat you? Is anyone asking you out for lunch? 

Don't just focus on the negative. Look at what you've done well. When you've done this assessment, meet your manager with a plan for raising your game, the book advises. But here's a caution. Don't go into the manager apologizing for your past problems. That will just remind the manager, who probably is all too aware of your shortcomings. Instead, make sure what you propose is something that you can and will do.

There's even a script in the book: "I realize that these are challenging times for you and the department, and I want to help. Here are some things I've been thinking about doing to increase my contribution." The book predicts that the manager will appreciate that you are quietly acknowledging your sins and want to pull your weight.

Don't do it if you don't mean it! Everyone will be watching. You can't look like you are in it just for job security. It has to be a long term change.   

Click here for more tips.       

Is everyone adjusting nicely to the stress of the recession? I think not! They are skipping days at the gym and substituting beer for yoga. (That's because you eat pretzels with beer; with yoga you twist yourself like a pretzel, but you get no beer -- so unfair!).  Yes, we have to take this study, commissioned by Workplace Options, with a huge grain of salt, because it promotes a better work-life balance. Guess what Workplace Option's business is? But, nonetheless, their May survey of 758 Americans conducted by the North Carolina firm of Public Polling Policy indicates that 72 percent of employees find their jobs to be stressful and one in five say they are having difficulties performing work duties because of a general decrease in their health.

They are cutting back on fun and exercising and 37 percent have curtailed "wellness" spending, which equates to gym memberships and yoga classes. At the same time, more of them are drinking or smoking more and eating badly. Nearly 30 percent say they are having trouble sleeping. Is this happening to you?  Does anyone have any solutions that don't cost a million bucks?   

It looks like all the public pressure about executive compensation is actually making a difference. A compensation survey by Mercer, the employee benefits consulting company, indicates that 44 percent plan to freeze base pay in 2009. However, the 56 percent planning a base pay increase in 2009 will give executives a bigger raise than they give to other employees (3.5 percent vs. 3.2 percent). Also, interestingly, executives, as a group, are facing a 4.9 percent loss in compensation this year -- the only major employee group to see that size of a decline.

This is a one-year scenario, making me wonder if it is just window-dressing given the political climate. Probably. But I interviewed some executive headhunters for a story I'm writing for an Inquirer special section coming out later this month. Headhunters said that the declining compensation of executives is a factor discouraging seasoned pros from stepping in to lead public companies. However, it is not the main factor. Face it, these folks have plenty of money. They are more motivated by the opportunity to make a positive and significant impact -- something that is not as easy to do as it once was.   

Today's Inquirer included a story about how Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll L.L.P is cutting compensation for its more junior lawyers as a way to cope with recessionary pressures and a decline in the law business. And Reed Smith L.L.P., a Pittsburgh firm with a big Philly presence, said it would cut salaries of U.S.-based associates by 10 percent.

Given these kinds of pay cuts and those that will surely affect automotive employees in the wake of the GM bankruptcy, it seems that the assumption of even modest wage increases year over year is less of  longer a sure bet. In fact, according to a survey by Mercer, the employee benefits consulting group, one in three employers planned to freeze or reduce salaries for employees in 2009. The two-thirds who do plan to increase compensation will up it by an average of 3.2 percent.

The survey shows more variability in pay. Employees in manufacturing, information technology, engineering, human resources and logistics generally saw increases. Even law had a slim increase -- maybe enough to buy a lunch or two. Overall, compensation slid in the fields of finance, sales and marketing. Raises particularly went to employees in the trades, production and service, as well as to office, clerical and technical workers.

Next year, companies are a little more optimistic, figuring that they'll be able to provide raises to 88 percent of their employees. Let's hope that's a signal for more hiring.

Because today is a special day for the Philadelphia Inquirer -- our 180th birthday -- I thought I'd take a moment to talk about my job in this jobbing blog. 

As a reporter and a subscriber,  I'd like to add my own congratulations on our 180th anniversary. On June 21, I will have worked here 27 years. I'll never forget how thrilled I was be hired at the Inquirer in 1982. On my first day, I proudly walked in the back door. The front door on Broad Street is for visitors, but I belonged here. (I promptly got lost and ended up aghast opening the door to the men's room used by our press crew, but that's another story.) In my time here, we've had two owners and six editors-in-chief. That's all well and good and each has contributed, but I consider this newspaper my Inquirer and this is my building. Our newsroom is a fabulous place, a huge soaring industrial room that stretches, more or less, from Broad Street to 15th Street. Hundreds of talented, intelligent and hard-working writers, photographers, artists, clerks and editors work in this room. They are my colleagues and I am proud to be among their number. When I first started working here, there were more resources -- obviously we weren't in bankruptcy. The bankruptcy is worrisome, but we are producing excellent work every day, regardless. It's one thing to produce great work when there are a lot of resources, but you are seeing our resilence and spirit in your newspaper and online. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that we are proud to serve our readers, both in the newspaper and online. With a few exceptions, I have experienced our readers as intelligent, generous, supportive and compassionate. Congratulations and thanks to the Inquirer, my colleagues, and our readers. I'm proud of all of us!