Starting salaries for young workers not what they once were

Well I certainly didnt get no $65K on my first jobs after my degree (BBA), not even close to it. I got 50 and I know others who did worse. Maybe its more like coming-back-to-earth starting salaries. And I had been working with the company during summers so I didnt have to wait the 3-mo period, but I didnt make $65K for close to 7-8 years. Guys with a MBA didnt even make that at first job - not most anyways. Lower taxes and salaries like that? And possibly better weather to boot? No wonder our grads flock to the US ........

I am with True Canadian, my starting salary in my first big job out of university did not pay me even half of $65K. I was making closer to 24K. Heck even years later in 2000 as a manager in Canada I was just barely crossing the $50K line. I know all the young kids that had just graduated and were working for me THOUGHT they were worth $65K (with no experience, low skill level) but they were lucky to get close to $30K. I moved to California for 4 years and my starting salary, for the same job I was doing in Canada jumped to $70K+...and they paid for my moving fees, put me up in an apartment and covered my travel expenses from Toronto to Los Angeles. I returned to Toronto and the job offers I received, again, for the SAME position, were not even paid half of what I was getting in the US.

Agreed, to both person posted before me. Even now a days new graduates don't get 54k, It's way less than that unless you are a student with atleast 3.5+ GPA or have a degree in specific high demand program or related to one of the directors of a company. It's a sad reality of our Job Market. Canadian employers pay way less than US, some parts of the MIDDLE east and some EU countries. That's why we are never # 1 in anything anymore. My first Job after graduation paid 24k in 2006 and I had to work my way up over last 6 years. It was like no one even noticed or paid me for the fact that I had a bachelors degree in finance. I could have just started as a highschool grad and would have ended up doing the same job I do right now. It's sad that having a degree from one of the best school in ontario did not make a diffrence for me to get a decent paid job at ontario. That's a serious discrepancy between the education system and employers. Our policy makers in pulic and private sector should seriously look into this issue or we are going a have sad downfall in future. Many bright people are turning away from Canada because of that.

I do not know why they choose to compare 2000. If they choose 2005 or 1995, the comparison could be quite different. In any case, expect to earn 65k these days with a university degree in general is unreal. The starting salary are more in line with some previous comments. Even with a software engineer Master degree from a prestigious Canadian School may not be able to get that kind of money right after graduation. Some students I know of graduated in past few years with that credential earns 70K after several years of work. In any case, the problem with youth unemployment is more complicated than that. The root cause is pop culture and wrong attitude towards education. The prevailing thinking among people is that getting a degree is a ticket for good employment. This has to change. Education is about training and learning, not about title or degree (or marks). We got to have a province or nation-wise exam for high school graduates to ensure they got a proper education and background, and hopefully right attitude too.

The thing I just don't understand is you hear about employers who complain of a lack of qualified persons to fill roles yet we have so many University and College graduates that can't get work. I understand a lot of employers want experience but aren't we all supposed to be readying for the outflux of a lot of the babyboomers as they ready for retirement? So we keep all these young graduates out there working in unrelated jobs, or severley under pay them to the point that when all the baby boomers leave the work force they'll all be forced to go with a staff that will be lucky to have any relevant work experience...seems odd to me, shouldn't this be when people are getting enticed to give some young people with enough drive to get an education a shot??? If I were a business owner I'd be jumping at the chance to have some young people mentored in by my more seasoned staff so that the floor doesn't fall out when everyone retires...anyway this is my long winded rant...for what it's worth my first job with a bachelors degree in 2010 started me at $50,000 but I was working in an above average industry in terms of pay scales...I'm gradually working my way up to where I feel I should be but not after significantly my employer through a difficult period, and getting further education, and having multiple job offers...I agree with EC that there is an attitude towards education making someone feel entitled to pay, and I'd be the first to admit the generation coming behind me seems all but lost in the fact that they can't even carry a decent conversation unless there's a phone, i pad, computer, or something that they are electronically communicating with (I'm not against technology obviously it's the way of the future, and well it would be completely hypocritical as I'm typing on a computer...but the youth today for the most part lack any sort of social ability, and feel anything and everything is an entitlement)...not so suprisingly to me it seems people evermore have to prove their worth and I know it's pain staking but if you truly work your butt off people do recognize...if not your current employer someone will. I'm now well above $50,000 in income and I'm proud and lucky to have found my way but it didn't come easy...I worked for it and you know what I think a lot of our low employment rates is a direct reflection on a lack of social ability, responsibility, and just plain laziness on behalf of some youth. It's time to stop crying foul and actually work!

If you really want to have fun compare their wages in relation to the inflation that young people face. You know, gasoline, student loan costs & home prices.
Plummet might then be seen as somewhat of an understatement.
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On the bright side, at least our companies that are offshoring like crazy are doing well financially even if everyone who isn't a millionaire is getting financially trashed.

I think it is a crock for people fresh out of school to expect $65k. In this day of no standards for acheivement, most kids come away from university with a degree but in fact couldn't find their bum with both hands. No handwriting skills, spelling skills ditto, many with attitude, girls use language that would make sailors blush. Our education system, starting at grade one, needs a serious rethink.

I don't know where they got there numbers from, because when I started working in 2004 after getting a BSc I got 38k a year. I'm still not at 65k although I'm close, although I had to switch jobs and move to a small town. If I was still working at the same job I had been in Toronto I would still be in the low 50s and the jobs are equivalent. I don't know think anyone of my friends started above 50k.

EDUCATION SHOULD BE FREE! Our generation the youth as were called are paying ridiculous amounts just in order to work and earn a decent enough wage. Most of us can't afford school as it is and even minimum wage is less and less as inflation hits us harder year after year and we see less and less real money circulating through the system. Couple that with much lower wage gains and ever increasing tuition fees theres practically no point for us to work at all. A lot of the youth whom are granted loans are working just to pay off those loans and even after we have theres really no way will ever afford are own homes. House prices are beyond ridiculous and all the while the social programs or life support systems for our generation are dwindling each and every year offering less and less supports for the helpless people whom rely on those programs. Were basically paying for the last generation and their debts, and with less money circulating through the system were hit even harder. Consider the wage to inflation ratios and the housing market as well as tuition increases. We work so that we can make it to work the next day...

EDUCATION SHOULD BE FREE!
The issue is that we practically work for nothing. Consider wage to inflation ratios as well as increasing tuition fees and a wayyyyyy over inflated housing market. The last generations of people were raised in a time of economic boom and as a result were left paying the credit card bill. Even if we recieve grants for education were still working most our lives to just pay off our student loans. As time goes by more and more money is consolidated onto the richer class which means that theres actually less money flowing through the real economy or to the majority and that money is becoming worth less as time goes on. The wage to inflation ratio doesn't even considerably compare and for the catch 22's like myself well.... we can't afford to live off of minumum wage. For the most part thats all there is out there, I can't count the number of times I've worked with college graduates , some with numerous degrees. Were mostly paid with below poverty line wages, we go hungry, we go without, and were tired of working for nothing. The baby boomer generationors paticularly need to get their acts together. Go look at the stat facts, they were given a hundred times the inheritence will ever see, grew up in a time where they could get jobs just walking down the street, they were paid more dollar worth per hour in a time where everything was cheaper. They were also granted more credit and as a result had 10x more opportunities then will ever see. Now were left with the credit card bill, less money to obtain, next to no real opportunities, and were stuck knowing will never afford homes because there generation just couldn't stop re-mortgaging and inflating the house market with worthless dollars.
Were tired of working for nothing! I thought this was the land of opportunity and equality..!? :S

To put things into a much better perspective consider this...
The only real jobs in high demand is maybe healthcare... The reason for that is because theres more babyboomers in society then any other generation.

Were tired of cleaning up ish so were mostly left with minimum wage jobs... now think about this
After paying the average $750 for rent and $250 for food and at least $100 for transportation never mind other basic nessecities, were lucky to see $200/month of supplemental income. The average home cost about $250000.00 and well I highly doubt ill live past 120 years of age...
So like previously stated... we work for NOTHING!

@ Young Canadian, the reason many university grads can't find jobs while employers can't find qualified people is because our education system teaches people the wrong skills. It starts in high school. I remember a buddy struggling to read Shakespeare in high school even though he always knew he'd be a tradesman. I wasted a year learning to play the trombone because the music teacher said we should. And it's the same in university--we graduate way too many people with degrees in French literature, Archeology and Sociology...employers don't want THAT kind of qualification. Our education system is now run by politically correct people who believe that every child deserves a flowery, socially enriched, non-competitive, nurturing educational experience without any risk of failure...it sounds good until these people lose their jobs to some kid from India with a degree in Computer Engineering.

@ Keith

It is the land of equality. You get what you are worth. If you get an education in something that there is no demand for then you won't get paid much. If instead you choose say something like medicine, accounting, engineering, pharmacy, etc you would be doing just fine. My wife and I both graduated 8 years ago each in one of the above fields. Our education cost of 20 some thousand each now seems very cheap given we each are now earning 6 figure salaries. Both fields were really tough during school (our friends getting BAs had a much more fun time) but on graduation day it all changed. There were easier routes available to both of us but we made the hard choices early and have benefited from it immensely since. The real kicker is that we will see our earnings rise for another 20 years.

Also somebody has to pay for your education. It can't be free. You already get 12 years of school, free healthcare and the transportation network just to name a few. Why should the tradespeople pay more taxes so you can get a useless degree? If you get a useful one it will pay for itself 100X over.

The middle class is alive and kicking. We live in nice houses, have SUVs, and get to go on nice vacations regularly.