Borders Group Inc., the second-largest book retailer in the nation, filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 16 after accruing $1.29 billion in debt. According to Bloomberg Businessweek Online, Borders’ market value has shrunk by more than $3 billion since 1998, which is a staggering figure.
Many factors can account for the painfully slow decision of Borders to close its doors, a more prominent one being the economy and its snail-paced recovery. Another more subliminal but detrimental reason is the dominance of the online world.
Amazon.com Inc. is a tougher rival, with nearly unbeatable prices, than surfacing stores in American suburbia.
What’s more is that this problem is not just national in scope, hitting those in the Middle East and Europe among others. Surprisingly, South and East Asia are lone survivors.
Businessweek also reported the unemployment rate for South Korea is 3.6 percent in January. Japan’s unemployment rate sits at 4.9 percent.
This is all while the U.S. unemployment rate is 9 percent and 6.2 million people have been out of work for 27 weeks or more, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The dynamic of the workforce has significantly changed, and this is an aspect that will extend beyond the economic crisis that the globe has fallen victim to.
Although all age groups are affected, the reality is that the hard-hit are 16- to 27-year-olds. The technological age has been cause for several manual labor jobs, which often times are doled out to students who are willing to work for minimum wage, to become null.
As Borders’ bankruptcy shows, customer service and social interaction are no longer relevant, so long as more affordable prices can be found on the Web. Another Businessweek article featured several young adults across the globe that have fallen victim to the digital age and the economic downturn, and the effects that it has on their career.
“Youth unemployment will clearly be the epidemic of this next decade unless we get on it right away. You can’t throw in the towel on this,” a representative of a temporary-services firm told Businessweek.
We’ve created a vicious cycle in which our world progresses and requires young adults to spend odious amounts of time in school to prepare themselves for the workforce. Governments encourage this endless learning, allowing that to act as a diversion while they attempt to create jobs for the students.
The governances squander because so many positions have been made obsolete by the technology we boast. This is a way of life that requires a steadfast amount of diligence from students who will spend years in school to gain the necessary prowess to make them a fair competitor.
Whether the students see schooling as preparation for their future or the ruling class’ attempt to use it as a distraction, it is only putting off the obvious — unemployment. There aren’t any jobs.
We’re expected to spend our lives in school, preparing for a constantly changing world. Though after school we are still equally confused.
If there is anything to be sure about, it is this: Stores will continue to close in cities across the globe because the world has found its shopping buddy in the Internet.
All the while we putter on, as poor college students, amongst others across the globe who share the same sentiment. We all don’t know whether our degrees will be put to good use. Our advancement is a Catch-22 of sorts, isn’t it?
Send your diatribes to bemorri1@asu.edu
