High-skilled workers scramble for any job

By Wendy Lee • THE TENNESSEAN • May 3, 2009

Terry Cassman is a 60-year-old white-collar worker who once made $105,000 a year overseeing a health insurance program for a food manufacturer.

But Cassman lost that job — and, saddled with mounting debt and monthly rent — he'll soon take his executive background and college degree to the Osborne Bi-Rite on Belmont Boulevard as an $8.50-an-hour stocker.

Cassman has a lot of company as, in the face of financial stress, college-educated workers seek out and land entry-level jobs that pre-recession-era employers may have deemed them over-qualified for only a few months ago.

Recent national labor data show that even in restaurant service, retail sales and other service industry jobs the percentage of highly educated applicants who get hired has soared by double digits in the past year as the U.S. unemployment rate edged higher to 8.5 percent. Tennessee's rate reached 9.6 percent in March.