Hispanic Adult Millennial Employment Trends: Sector, Industry, and Job Type [INSIGHT]

Recently, Tr3s revealed some new findings about Hispanic Adult Millennials and work. The employment picture has improved for bilingual Hispanics and non-Hispanics 18-34, but joblessness has continued to climb among foreign-born Hispanics. When it comes to full-time employment, however, non-Hispanics 18-34 have seen steady gains since 2011 as Hispanics continued to decline. And while unemployment among bilingual Hispanic Adult Millennials has fallen, that’s happened in part because of their higher engagement in part-time work. Bilingual Hispanics 18-34 are also more likely than non-Hispanics and foreign-born Hispanics to be full-time college students who are not working.

These are preliminary findings for Tr3s’s 2014 study, which will focus on Hispanic Millennials 18-34 and their relationships to work and play. Here are some additional new findings that compare today’s employment picture with 2008:

While the majority of 18-34s work in the private sector, there have been some notable employment sector shifts among Hispanics since the recession began.

o    From 2008 to 2013, foreign-born and bilingual Hispanic Adult Millennials left self-employment/small business jobs in favor of federal, state, or local government employment
o    Those who are foreign-born are also less likely to be working in the private sector than in 2008
o    Government employment among third generation Hispanics shifted to the private sector
o    Non-Hispanic Adult Millennials experienced less pronounced sector shifts

Wholesale/retail trade is currently the top industry among English-speaking Hispanic Adult Millennials, while foreign-born 18-34s are spread across various blue-collar professions.

o    There has been a big shift into wholesale/retail trade from 2008 to 2013 for many 18-34s, most dramatically for third generation and bilingual Hispanics
o    Foreign-born Hispanics are most likely to work in “various services,” accommodations/food, construction, and manufacturing
o    Construction is also a top job for bilingual Hispanics – and since 2008, construction work has declined among all groups but bilingual Hispanics
o    Manufacturing industry jobs increased for most, especially among English-speaking Hispanics
o    Education jobs were up for bilingual and foreign-born Hispanics 18-34

As for what types of jobs they’re working, construction/building/ground maintenance is the #1 job area among all 18-34s. More are in sales positions, while office administrative support had significant declines among English-speaking Hispanics.

o    Nearly half of foreign-born Hispanic Adult Millennials work in construction/building/ground maintenance
o    The sales job increase dovetails with growth in the retail industry
o    The percentage working in protective services (security, fire, police, child protection, etc.) also increased, in line with “hero and rescuer” themes from previous Hispanic Millennial studies
o    US-born Hispanics had some growth in manual labor jobs
o    Only among non-Hispanics does management/business/finance rank in the top 4 job areas

Source: Experian Simmons Summer 2012 Full Year and Summer 2008 Full Year