Michigan Radio Launches ‘Generation Y Michigan’

It is difficult for me to understand why you are spending so much time on this very sad subject. My son loves Michigan...family, friends, beautiful beaches and lakes...but, after a degree from MSU and advanced degree from University of Wisconsin, he is back in Michigan and there are NO JOBS. I am afraid Michigan will be one of the last states to turn around economically and begin offering the kind of jobs that will keep our children here. This is not brain surgery...they need to earn a living. It is that simple.

This project wasn't developed in order to dwell on a sad subject. The goal is to determine if there actually is a problem with Michigan attracting or retaining young adults, and if so, to uncover the reasons and find solutions.

It may not be as simple as Michigan having "no jobs." But if that is the case, ignoring it won't help anyone.

Why does everyone think we want people to stay in Michigan. I'm a Gen Yer who graduated from NMU. I couldn't find a job in Michigan or my home state of Wisconsin, so I got a job in Texas, and lost and gained several Texas jobs since then, and coincidentally one of the companies I worked for in Texas moved their office to Michigan, so now I"m in Suburban Detroit.

Why? Why do we wan to keep people here. Our local elections yesterday in Berkley they wanted to pass a proposition to build a community center. One of their reasons was "to get more young people to live in Berkley" Why? I'm fine with what's here. If y'all leave that's more for me. I certainly don't think you should steal money from me to try to encourages others to stay or come here. That's my money to do with as I so choose.

Glad to see this. I'm Gen X and was very sad to see the low turnout of voters in student polling places in yesterday's election. I'm a sticky one from my generation. The first time I voted I lived in East Quad (voted for Mondale...btw ) and have been registered in Ann Arbor ever since.

Are students registered elsewhere? Are they not interested in local politics? Are they just not voting? Yesterday there was a chance to put a student on Ann Arbor city council for the first time in 30 years and fewer than 50 people voted at South Quad. What gives?

I am a Gen Xer who took the long road to graduation.

I am looking both in and out of state. I would prefer to stay here but I am finding it hard too. I have some connections out of state which I am considering but I guess this all depends on what comes my way. I am doing the right things to stay in MI. I am volunteering at industry related conferences, networking, and speaking at events. It is just really hard to stay in MI.

I don't have a family and am ready for the next chapter of my life to start.

Good luck in the new series. I'm a GenY'er who just QUIT my job in pursuit of independent contract work--all in Michigan. There are a lot of factors weighing in on these decisions. Thanks for focus!

This is a great topic. My experience has been the opposite of commenter 'TSOL' below. I grew up in Michigan and wanted to leave, and got a job in Southern California after finishing graduate school. Living there, I immediately started missing the higher quality of life, closeness to nature, and the more practical, kinder people of Michigan. I ended up moving back to Michigan for another job and it was one of the best decisions of my life. It has to be not just that jobs are available but that the right kind of jobs are available and are attracting good candidates. manufacturing jobs are in the past and most people still may have the stereotype that those are the only type of jobs available in the state. If MI can add more jobs in the creative sector, tourism industry, food and agriculture, education, green jobs, etc. maybe more young people will stay.

I'm a Gen-X, and I can tell you why I came and why I left when I was younger.

I first moved to MI when I was in my early 20s. Met a wonderful lady and married her - that was the driving force.

Being from Chicago, MI felt like a bit of a downgrade in quality of life. The first thing that I was shocked about was how crappy the infrastructure was. Metro Detroit, the epicenter of the auto industry, yet the roads of a third world country.

Job-wise, I always felt it was impossible to break in, unless you were MI born and raised. Nepotism seemed to play a role in positions I applied for, and not knowing certain 'Michigan things' or being interested in such mundane activities as college football cast me as an outsider, thus limiting any opportunity I would have had to express the things I am knowledgeable about or interested in.

Racial and ethnic intolerance was another thing that I didn't find appealing. It seems that many folks in Michigan can't seem to get over themselves, what happened in the 60s, etc and still have a major chip on their shoulders. I'm not just talking black or white folks, but across the board - In general, I see little tolerance for people of different races self-segregating and generally disrespectful of others.

While my view may be a bit dated with the recent changes in the MI economy, I thought it was ridiculous that some guy who worked in the factory made substantially more than I did as a technology professional. Big boats, new cars, big houses - all for doing the same job over and over and the poisonous entitlement attitude that certain Union people tend to wear on their sleeves - meanwhile, I'd work 10x harder to merely eke out an existence. Nothing make me more sick than hearing: "Slow down! Don't work yourself out of a job, kid!"

When my wife and I did get married, we went house hunting. For what we could afford, we were facing having to live in a ghetto and have extremely long commutes. Not to mention my wife's struggles to get a decent paying teaching job in MI back then.

An opportunity came up for her to work in Atlanta. We seized it, and it was the best thing we did. Cost of living was inexpensive, housing was cheap, gas was cheap, taxes were lower, jobs were plenty, the roads were great. For a young couple just trying to live a decent life and play by the rules, it was heaven!

When our first child was born, we received pressure from the family to move back to MI. While I missed things about MI, I really didn't have any interest in returning to unplowed/unmaintained roads, high taxes, etc...but the family requirement won. When we moved back, the cost of living adjustment and the pending career suicide I tried preparing our family for, basically I lost nearly 40% of my income compared to my life in GA. Sure, I make the same as I did when I was down there, but when you take into consideration the added expenses of home ownership here, plus taxes, plus surprise repairs on the cars due to bad roads, plus gas prices being much higher....all those things add up.

While I'm happy my children will have the opportunity to grow up around family, I'm certainly not happy with living in Michigan. If I were a Gen-Y with a degree, no family, and a sense of adventure, I'd surely get the hell out of Michigan as soon as the ink was dry on my diploma.

Dear Disappointed -

Thanks for your input: in this series you will definitely hear from some young people about why they are leaving Michigan. It seems to be the case that many students don't even take the time to check out employment opportunities in the state of Michigan before heading out. In the series you will also hear from some organizations working to help pair recent graduates with in-state jobs.

In the meantime, check out the following links to read about two such organizations:

• Intern in Michigan: http://interninmichigan.com/
• The Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Job Site: http://www.miperfectjob.com/

I will be interested to hear why Gen Y is leaving Michigan. Maybe it will explain why we cannot obtain a single local applicant for the jobs we have right here in Ann Arbor. We want to hire locally with a minimum of experience but unfortunately our applicants are either looking for citizenship sponsorship or are out-of-state. Its discouraging to hire a Chicagoan, talk to candidates in California and Iowa but not Ann Arbor. This is despite emailing local universities with information regarding the jobs. Check out: http://myportal.infor.com/hr/careers/

I looked at your site...then realized who you were: one of the first, and most rabid outsourcers of software development in the state of Michigan. Reap what you sow...