Jeff Crockett is frustrated with his job situation.
Despite receiving his master's degree in accounting from Utah State University in 2003, he has been unable to get the job he worked hard to receive — a job that pays well, allows him to perform the work he was trained to do and returns benefits in line with his talent level.
But Crockett isn't unemployed.
He works at the Eccles Ice Center in North Logan in an accounting position. Crockett is making money and getting by.
So what's all the fuss about?
"I'm basically a highly qualified bookkeeper who gets to drive a Zamboni around every once in a while," Crockett said. "Any average accounting student could be doing this. I was doing this before I had a degree in accounting."
Crockett is among the growing ranks of the underemployed. He has a job but not in a position that matches his skills, talents, education level or compensation expectations.
Yet a precise definition of underemployment is hard to find, because the term covers many different situations and many kinds of people.
"Underemployment typically refers to a situation where individuals have the training, knowledge, skills and abilities to perform a job that is greater than the job they currently hold," said David Cherrington, professor of organizational behavior at Brigham Young University.
Utah residents are probably finding themselves in underemployment situations in greater frequency relative to other states, Cherrington said.
"I think it's a little more serious in Utah than in other states, because we have an excellent educational system, we place a high value on education in our culture and are predominantly (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)," Cherrington said. "It would suggest that our underemployment rate would be a little bit greater than in other places in the nation."
"I'm a little bit frustrated," Crockett said. "Looking for a job is not fun. It would be nice to have some money. A good job would definitely bump me up. You'd think with a master's degree I'd do a lot better than that."
Compounding the problem of understanding underemployment is the difficulty in measuring exactly who or how many people are underemployed. Federal and state governments don't officially measure underemployment like they measure unemployment.
"(Measuring underemployment) could be done if you were doing it as a research project," Cherrington said. "We could use a point method for evaluating jobs and measure someone's knowledge, skills and abilities on a massive scale. It wouldn't be hard to use, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that."
Attempts have been made to understand those who are underemployed, however.
Researchers at the University of South Carolina in 2002 looked at 517 executives who lost their jobs as a result of downsizing and found replacement jobs that paid less, were at lower levels in the corporate hierarchy and did not fully utilize their skills.
Among their findings, published in the December 2002 Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology:
The executives displayed consistently negative attitudes toward jobs and careers in general.
A decrease in using their finely honed job skills was more frustrating than a pay cut or a demotion.
Underemployment is not native to any salary range; it can negatively affect the attitudes of executives as well as lower-paid employees.
Bob Henderson understands these frustrations well.
Henderson received his bachelor's degree in computer science more than 20 years ago from the University of Arizona. Back then, computer science was a field that held limitless possibilities for growth and vertical movement within an organization. Henderson had no problems finding work through the year 2000, as the demand for his services spiked because of the Y2K fear that gripped the nation.
One year later he was laid off from his job. Between the years of 2001 and 2003, Henderson submitted 1,000 resumes for jobs in information technology. He was granted interviews at only five companies.
"In my last interview, it really looked like I had the job," Henderson said. "They did a reference check with my old boss, became interested in him, then hired him a short time later. That was the last nail in the coffin."
Henderson decided to leave the computer science field altogether and now owns his own vending machine company. He's making a living and paying his bills, but he is $250,000 in debt while making substantially less money than he was before.
"It's frustrating," he said. "There's a lot of anxiety, and you know that the companies are cutting back. A few years ago, you'd look in the classified section and there was three pages of computer science jobs. Now it's pretty much dried up."
So what recourse do the underemployed have?
Cherrington said those who feel they might be underemployed should consider going back to school.
"Try and get all the education you can," Cherrington said. "You're better off having more than less. Then find a job that you enjoy and are successful at.
"Even if you are underemployed, there's nothing wrong with having a job that you enjoy. The fact that you have greater skills doesn't mean you should be obligated to use them. Work on being successful and satisfied with the adequate income you receive."
E-mail: poyfair@desnews.com