A Market of Contradictions

The current job market is a tricky beast. Right now, it seems that certain industries are crumbling beneath the weight of the credit crunch, and one of my friend claims that there are 75,000 bankers out of work right now. But some industries can't seem to get enough workers. Right now, for example, the border patrol cannot meet its personnel demands. 

I think that the biggest factor here is prestige. It is prestigious to have a banking career. Right now, for some people, it is very much not prestigious to work with border patrol.  And it is certainly much less pay. 

But everyone can't be a banker. Or a doctor. Or even a lawyer. Everyone can't be a teacher, and shouldn't be for that matter. People have to find the position that best suits them. However, the quest for prestige, which is what I think it is, has created a very topsy turvy labor market full of young individuals driven towards jobs that are a bad fit because mom and dad want you to do something with your life that they can tell their parents about.

Right now, the legal sector is losing jobs. It is suffering from the same fate as the financial sector, though not as intense. Every other day there are stories and reports of job losses, and "natural" attrition in the industry has grown 10 fold.  It is really unavoidable, because ultimately it is all about profit, and no company in this market will retain employees that it doesn't really need. Downsizing happens everywhere. But the human toll, and the revelation of the contradictions of the market, bear noticing. It seems some industries, like nursing, can't get enough people. I thought about it the other day, while I was shopping and chatting with a fellow shopper who was a nurse. She had no school debt. And she was buying the same shoes I was.  Did I make the right choice?