If you’re like me, you’ve probably caught the hint that the young vote is going to play a major role in the presidential election. Case in point: according to “An informed Gen Y may decide this election” from the Denver Post, youth turnout increased drastically in almost every state holding a primary or caucus on Super Tuesday – doubling, tripling and even quadrupling the turnouts in 2004. The paper argues young voters will have an even greater impact in the general election, because attempts to ‘get out the youth vote’ have finally been coupled with a real effort to ‘inform young voters.’

Between the economy, two wars, an energy crisis, global climate change and everything else we’ve become accustomed to hearing about over the past umpteen months, there’s a lot at stake for the millions of college students and young professionals who will be voting for the first time. Entry-level job creation, a key concern for college educated Gen Y’ers, will likely play a pivotal role at the polls – even if it doesn’t cut through the noise like the other headline-grabbing issues.

Yesterday Experience announced the results of our 2008 Jobs and Economics Survey, and with more than 12,900 respondents (from our opted-in student and alumni candidate base) it’s safe to say Gen Y voters are ‘engaged’ with this historic election. Of the 85 percent who said they’d be voting on November 4th, we found that…

• 80% of respondents said entry-level job creation will play a factor in how they’ll cast their votes
• 76% indicated midsize to large business stimulation was a voting concern
• 69% reported entrepreneurial activity was an influencer as well
• 60% have seen a decrease in employer activity in 2008 – including targeted job postings and on-campus recruiting

Gen Y also cited economic stimulation (58 percent), the energy crisis (50 percent), foreign policy and healthcare reform (39 percent each), education reform (37 percent) and unemployment (35 percent) as the most important issues for the next administration.

With a sharp focus on jobs and the economy, students and young professionals have concerns that mirror those of society at large. Social issues, while still important, are no longer top of mind like they once were. And that’s an easy explanation: young voters, like all voters, are not sheltered from the economic storm that’s significantly affecting just about everything nowadays. Employers seeking Gen Y talent in today’s business climate need to not just keep these concerns in mind, but consider reinforcing ‘stability’ in their messaging when at all possible.

And in case you’re curious: we gave our respondents the option to tell us which way they were leaning politically. Of those who opted to ‘vote’ (nearly 11,000 young voters), 62 percent said they would back Barack Obama and 21 percent said they would go for John McCain. The rest were either undecided (9 percent), voting for a third party candidate (2 percent) or simply chose not to say (6 percent).