Cazalier Johnson knows that when he graduates from UW-Madison in two years and returns home to Milwaukee, the job market will probably not be favorable.
Johnson, a black male, has experienced the high joblessness in Milwaukee for black men, confirmed Monday in a report by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Center for Economic Development.
According to the CED, 46.8 percent of all black men between the ages of 16 and 64 in Milwaukee were jobless, compared to 17.9 percent of white men in that age range.
Sam White, professor of urban planning at UW-Milwaukee, describes the Milwaukee economy as challenged.
We have had several years in the 21st century where we have seen a decrease in employment levels, a decrease in labor force participation,"" he said.
Johnson spends his school breaks as a seasonal intern for the Workforce Investment Board. His duties include supervising the Milwaukee Career Center and working with the Job Readiness Training Program which helps prepare youth to enter the workforce.
Johnson suggests lack of education and a mindset of ""my way or the highway"" as possible contributing factors to joblessness.
""We tell our youth [at the Job Readiness Training Program] you have to conform to what your employer is searching for. I tell the kids you need to develop two personalities, your own personal personality and then a professional personality,"" Johnson said.
White said he thinks the jobless rate will decline in the future as the baby boomer generation enters retirement. He said one factor in the high unemployment of black men is changes in the manufacturing industry.
White said fewer manufacturing jobs are located in the city and inner-ring suburbs than in the past and the jobs are now requiring above entry-level skills.
Johnson said he thinks increased visibility of job postings in places frequented by black men could help lower the jobless rate.
He said the resources are not always available to check job postings on the Internet.
""[After] growing up in that environment and seeing the men I could grow up to be, being unemployed, that is not the route I want to take,"" Johnson said. ""I am here trying to fix that position and send it the other direction.
