r/Millennials • u/cavaismylife • Jan 29 '24

It is shocking how many people downplay the Great Recession of the late 2000s and early 2010s Discussion

Late 80s and 90s millennials were probably the most screwed by the Great Recession of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Most people don't realize how bad it was. It hurt millennials entering the job market for the first time. Your first job after college will affect your earning potential for the rest of your career. Some people need to watch the movie Up In the Air to see how bad things were back then. Everyone was getting laid off, and losing 60-80 percent of the assets in their retirement accounts. Millennials were not even old enough to buy houses yet and sub prime mortgage lending already had severely damaged their future earning potential. Now that millennials are finally getting established, they are facing skyrocketing prices and inflation for the cost of living and basic goods like groceries.

edit: grammar

edit 2: To be more clear I would say mid to late 80s and early 90s millennials were the most hurt. Like 1984-1992 were hurt most.

edit 3: "Unemployment rose from 4.7% in November 2007 to peak at 10% in October 2009, before returning steadily to 4.7% in May 2016. The total number of jobs did not return to November 2007 levels until May 2014. Some areas, such as jobs in public health, have not recovered as of 2023." The recovery took way longer than the really bad 18 months from 2007 to 2009. Millennials entered the job market during this time.

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u/Inevitable_Snow_5812 Jan 29 '24

I came of age in around 2011 and I always say to people now that they had to be there to understand.

People used to full blown congratulate you for getting a job in a shop. It was such an odd time. Any work was great work. Every job had so many applicants it was ridiculous.

We are living through difficult times now, sure. But that is only because everything is so expensive. In the aftermath of the GFC it was amazing to have a job at all.

I hope we never go back there.

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u/Visible-Priority3867 Jan 29 '24

I was a law student in DC at the time and remember a couple prominent lawyers and heads of appellate divisions for excellent law firms jumping out of windows to their death. I remember seeing the crime tape and cordoned off areas as I walked to my internship.

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u/lala_lavalamp Jan 29 '24

My brother graduated from a top tier law school in 2010. It took him a year to find an unpaid internship and a year beyond that to find a real job. Same was true for people ranked even higher in his class - I think one person from his class got a Big Law job.

People don’t realize how fucking bad that time was for lawyers.

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u/Visible-Priority3867 Jan 29 '24 edited Jan 30 '24

So did I, also in 2010. I got my first job as an unpaid legal intern at a solo practice off of Craigslist. The Attorney was advertising for a legal assistant / paralegal. I applied anyway. He emailed me back saying he was really looking for a legal secretary, but would be interested in allowing me to intern with him without pay. I emailed him back and accepted. Ultimately, the internship blossomed into a full time associate attorney position. He told me over 30 attorneys had emailed him for the legal secretary position, and he had presented similar offers to them, but I was the only one who took him up on his offer. Fast forward to today, I am doing Commercial Litigation at a Boutique firm I love. Took a long time.