Stat of the Day

17 Million Americans Are Over-Qualified for Their Jobs

AP Images
Caitlin Dickson 4,562 Views May 2, 2011

The unemployment in the U.S. currently hovers around 9.2 percent. Though this shows a technical increase in the percentage of the country that is working, Business Insider reprints New America Foundation materials showing that 17 million Americans are doing jobs that don't require the degrees they went to school for. For example, "just under 30 percent of flight attendants and 16 percent of telemarketers have bachelor's degrees even though this credential is not necessarily for these jobs." The same goes for 16 percent of bartenders and nearly 14 percent of postmen and women. More fodder, perhaps, for the college-degrees-are-worthless debate.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at cdickson at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Sources

Related Articles   More by Caitlin Dickson

February Had the Most New Job Openings Since 2004

Jobless Claims Rose Unexpectedly Last Week

There Are Far More Americans Living in Poverty Now

 

178 Atlanta District Teachers and 38 Principals Helped Students Cheat

Twitter Townhall Not Going as Planned?

Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App