I retired 2 years ago from a global, 1 billion dollar electronics company that you never heard of but have its product in your car and home. My last 10 years I managed a factory in small town SC. At 85k/yr starting salary and 3 yrs experience I could not find engineers. At 60k and no experience, I could not find engineers. They all wanted to work for BMW, Boeing, or Michelin. Clemson and USC were so busy helping big companies recruit, we couldn't get interviews or help with our search. The jobs are out there, but you may need to go to them. Even when I graduated, I had to go to where the jobs were. I grew up in NY, graduated from Purdue because it was a lot cheaper than NY schools and then went to work for TVA in Alabama for a couple years to have experience on my resume. Each time we moved my wife walked into the nearby county/state hwy departments and asked if they needed help. She herself had to hire her last engineer on a visa program because she couldn't find engineers.

My son graduated from Clemson two years ago with an ME degree and had offers from the top three manufacturers here in SC. He went with BMW. My second son went to work for the library system in IT. He volunteered there for six months before getting hired. My nephew just got out of the army after three tours to the Middle East and he just went to work for a large accounting firm in Charolette. I honestly don't know anyone that is looking for a job. So I don't get it.

No i don't consider your generation to be whiners. I do think expectations tend to be higher than mine were at your age. The first place I worked was in Holywood AL. That was a two year sacrifice.