I'm in my mid to late 40's now with a pretty good career. And I've been in the position of hiring today's grads upon occasion. Some are really, really smart. Most, IMHO, not so much. Sure, their abilities to do Powerpoint, make pretty Word docs and even crunch a few spreadsheets are okay in an academic sense. But, holy crap, I need a business sense. And more than a business sense: an ability to go and talk to a customer, build a business relationship, establish trust and do business! I don't need another dumbass talking about "social media" and "blah blah blah" that doesn't connect with the large majority of down-in-the-trenches-small-business-owners.
When I was in high school, most of the seniors worked part-time. Hell, before they even graduated or went to college or university, they already had more raw work experience than over 95% of today's grads. Today's high school grads (at least in Ontario) can't even drive a fucking car by themselves. Add that together with globalization (the fucking of the middle class), the destruction of the traditional retirement age of 65 (selfish prick babyboomers) and you're got a perfect storm of screwing today's generation. It isn't that there is no jobs available, it's that they are already taken and many of today's grads don't have the work experience that gives employer's any confidence.
It's fucking depressing when you think about it. Sure, I'm ranting a bit. I've got four young kids and I'm really concerned with what I see out there today. The politicians today are complete morons and out of touch with reality. Today's politicians are becoming "institutionalized" where you're now seeing dumb-ass dynasties occurring with people who have no sense of what's really going on.