San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
40,000 SAN DIEGO COLLEGE STUDENTS SET TO ENTER RECOVERING JOB MARKET
Employers hiring as COVID-19 vaccine distribution widens
The compass points northeast for Daniel Henderson, who’ll soon leave San Diego for Baltimore in what might turn into a bittersweet moment.
He’ll receive his MBA from UC San Diego in June, then head for Maryland, where his wife, Taylor, has landed a job. In the process, he might lose his position at Illumina, a company he loves.
But at least he’s not worried about finding new employment.
“We’re not out of the woods yet when it comes to the pandemic,” said Henderson, who grew up in Valley Center, near Taylor. “But we’re getting back to normal. I have no doubt that I would find a new job.”
That sort of confidence wasn’t common a few months ago among the roughly 40,000 students who will receive a degree this spring at more than a dozen colleges and universities across San Diego County.
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout got off to a slow start, allowing infection rates to soar and hurting the economy’s recovery. The Wall Street Journal captured the anxiety in February, telling readers: “Millions of students are set to graduate this spring into the worst job market in decades.”
But there’s been breathtaking change. More than 3 million people a day are being vaccinated nationwide, the COVID-19 death rate has dropped sharply — and suddenly the job market is starting to crackle.
Google doubled its office space in Sorrento Mesa, symbolizing the resurgence of a local software industry that had 3,000 openings before the pandemic took hold. Health care
companies such as Sharp and Scripps need everyone from dietitians to imaging specialists. UC San Diego Health has hundreds of unfilled jobs, including spots for technicians and researchers.
The construction sector also is in the hunt, and not just for carpenters. It also needs civil engineers. Legoland, which reopened last week, needs marketing staff and IT workers. Seaworld, which will reopen its thrill rides on Monday, needs technicians.
The economy is getting a lift from the $1.9 trillion stimulus package Congress passed in March. And Congress is evaluating a $2 trillion jobs and infrastructure package proposed by President Joe Biden.
“I think the job market is going to be extremely strong,” said Lynn Reaser, an economist at Point Loma Nazarene University.
“We’re talking about creating 900,000 to a million jobs a month (nationwide). And San Diego will be a key component with our strengths in biotech and the reopening of the whole tourism sector,” she said. “You have a perfect combination that is fueling opportunities for graduates of our colleges and universities.”
The National Association of Colleges and Employers also has turned optimistic, recently saying that employers will hire 7.2 percent more new graduates than it did last year, when the economy cratered.
It is possible, says Goldman Sachs, that the national unemployment rate could drop to 4.1 percent by the end of the year. It’s currently 6.0 percent.
This is producing palpable relief among students, many who were forced to move out of dorms when the pandemic began and to switch to taking classes online, denying them the inperson networking that can lead to a job.
“This feels almost too good to be true,” said Brenden Tuccinardi, an advertising major who is about to get his bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University.
“It gives you hope going into the job market.”
Christian Glavis has already been able to cash in on a job opportunity, but only after suffering a tough life lesson.
The Cal State San Marcos senior, who is about to get a bachelor’s degree in business administration, was awarded an internship last year by Viasat, a Carlsbad-based communications company. The offer was canceled when the pandemic grew worse.
“Having an internship on your resume is really important when you’re applying for a job,” said Glavis, a Marine Corps veteran. “I thought losing it would make me less competitive.”
It didn’t. Viasat has since offered him a permanent job. He starts in June.
Elsa Ruble also is likely to get good news by the time she receives an associate degree in biotechnology this spring at Miramar College.
“The job market is booming in my industry,” said Ruble, who has experience as a lab technician. “I’m on Linkedin, where I’m getting notifications every day. With COVID, there’s still a lot of rapid testing that needs to be done.”
There’s still plenty of anxiety among job seekers.
COVID-19 infection rates are rising in many areas of the country, despite the rapid vaccination programs. That could lead many employers to offer virtual jobs, instead of ones that involve going to the office.
Most of the undergraduates pouring out of college now are members of Generation Z, the first generation that has always been exposed to the Internet, social media and cellphones. But the isolation of online classes — and of simply surviving a pandemic — has many students yearning for direct human contact.
“I’m really done with Zoom,” said Megan Macgregor, an international relations major who is about to get a bachelor’s degree at the University of San Diego.
“I think a big part of starting off your career is networking with people. You can network over the computer. But a lot of (that) doesn’t really replace the connections that you can make face-to-face.”
Jade Walker has similar feelings about interviewing for jobs via platforms like Zoom. She prefers the inperson experience.
“A lot of connection comes from just meeting someone, having a little bit of small talk,” said Walker, a social work major who will soon get her bachelor’s degree from SDSU. “It’s a little bit different on Zoom because you just get straight to the purpose of the meeting. There’s not a lot of room for small talk.”
Many job seekers face an additional pressure: student loan debt.
Luis Lopez borrowed $15,000 to help pay for his education at SDSU, where he is about to earn a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He dreams of working as a beat reporter in sports, a position that can be hard to come by.
“I used to work at Best Buy, so if I can’t get anything right away I might do that until I get my first sports job,” said Lopez, who has been working on the staff of SDSU’S Daily Aztec newspaper. “You have to start paying back the loans as soon as you graduate.”
The key to success now, as before the pandemic, is having clarity and purpose, says Carlos Fernandez, a business analytics major who is about to earn his masters at USD.
“As long as you’re certain of what you want, or at least have an idea, and put together an action plan and show your value and understand what companies are looking for, I don’t see a problem in finding a job,” Fernandez said.
“The problem comes when you don’t really know what you want to do and you don’t really know what companies are looking for.”