Effects of Terror Attacks on Employment Plans and Anxiety Levels of College Students

Introduction College students will be moving into a workplace that has been hard hit by events that have increased anxiety levels among workers in this past year. Despite increasing instances of workplace violence, no incident remotely compares to that experienced by workers in New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11th. How has this attack affected the college population that will be moving into that workplace in the next few years? An article in an October Boston Globe stated that students are rethinking career goals and employment locations as they graduate (Lewis, 2001). Students are at a decisive stage in their lives during which they are building a framework for how they will live their futures (Artze, 2002). It is important for future employers and educators/counselors to understand how September 11 has affected and will affect the structure of this framework. Certainly, there has already been evidence of change in the workplace itself, particularly in urban locations. Interest in relocating has risen. Employees want to leave urban areas and/or move closer to home. A construction project manager from Tampa, Florida plans to relocate and settle closer to relatives in West Palm Beach (Sealey, 2001). "I'm not so sure I feel safe where I work [in Silicon Valley]. That is why I moved to a quiet area in the woods and five minutes from the beach" stated April Martin, Aptos, California (Sealey, 2001). Julie Duncan has lived 10 miles from the Pentagon in Northern Virginia for more than 10 years. Now she's thinking of moving (Sealey, 2001). Other workers are reconsidering their work location only. Some urban dwellers say they are rethinking working in skyscrapers, while others have left cities altogether (Sealey, 2001). Some people are leaving downtown locations. Attorney Ronald Gin has thought about moving his office to another location. (Sebastian Ridge & Chaker, 2001) Suburban New York real estate brokers have reported sharp jumps in interest since September 11 (Sealey, 2001). There is a renewed interest in telecommuting. Employees concerned that the workplace could be a target of terrorist attack or anthrax-tainted mail find telecommuting a viable option for continuing their work while addressing their fears of terror attacks. More than 20% of US workers felt telecommuting might reduce their stress (Armour, 2001). Some employers in response are relaxing policies or launching telecommuting for the first time. Telecommuting may include new arrangements such as increased network security. For example, workers may be required to use smartcards, secure Ids and software programs (Armour, 2001). Kyle Kraus, president of IT consulting firm LanTrax in Buffalo is cutting back on business travel and telecommuting more. Mr. Erlikh, of Relativity, was so shaken that he now works only from home in Brooklyn instead of at Relativity's offices in Manhattan. The company is closing those offices because people are afraid to work there (Motoko, 2001). The increased interest in telecommuting has provided more business to companies that specialize in establishing these programs. Calls from companies trying to setup home-working have increased 30% according to Fred Crandall a partner at the Center for Workforce Effectiveness, a consultant that specializes in creating virtual environments. Tmanage, Inc,. a company that helps firms set up telecommuting networks, said inquiries have tripled since Sept. 11 (Motoko, 2001). Corporate offices cannot be eliminated altogether, however. Companies are reviewing their security measures and attempting to improve those that are insufficient to protect employees in the present environment. A poll by the Society for Human Resource Management (Mendels, 2001) found that half of companies surveyed said higher security provisions would be put in place (56%). Some companies, such as Aon, always had good security policies, for example, they required ID badges to get into buildings and parking garages. …