A new report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) warns that a predicted rise in youth unemployment over the next five years is likely to deprive society of a generation of skilled workers and lead to social unrest on an epic scale.
Although there are regional vagaries, the global youth unemployment rate continues to rise and is expected to reach 12.8 per cent by 2018. According to the ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013 report, an estimated 73.4 million young people – 12.6 per cent – are expected to be out of work in 2013, close to the levels reached at the peak of the economic crisis in 2009. This is an increase of 3.5 million between 2007 and 2013.
“These figures underline the need to focus policies on growth, massive improvements in education and training systems, and targeted youth employment actions,” says José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, ILO’s Assistant Director-General for Policy.
“Employers, education providers and youth often live in parallel universes, they do not sufficiently engage with each other. We know a lot about what works but real impact and scale can only be achieved through close partnerships and collective action,” he added.
According to the report, young people continue to be three times more likely not to have a job than adults, which is a depressing statistic for school leavers and graduates. The document asserts:
“The weakening of the global recovery in 2012 and 2013 has further aggravated the youth jobs crisis and the queues for available jobs have become longer and longer for some unfortunate jobseekers. So long, in fact, that many youth are giving up on the job search.”
Of the fortunate few that manage to secure work, more and more young people are forced to settle for temporary or part-time employment. Frequently, the jobs they are engaged in are a mismatch for the skills they have gained.
The ILO report says such mismatches make solutions to the youth employment crisis more difficult to find and more time consuming to implement. Not only does this mean society is missing out on new skills from high-qualified youths, but also that the overeducated are denying less qualified young people from entering the workplace. The increasing use of interns by employers has also put pressure on young people and had the effect of flattering the unemployment level.
Unemployment among those young people who are not in employment, education or training – the so-called NEETs – is an issue in the UK. A report in March found that a lack of computer skills could be damaging the career chances of young Britons, after more than one in 10 said they did not think their computer skills were good enough to use in the job they want.
The Prince’s Trust said research among 1,378 British 15 to 25-year-olds, including 265 NEETs, found that one in 10 cannot send their CV online, while a quarter dreaded filling in online job applications.
Employers have reacted in different ways to the skill shortage. While some companies – particularly in the finance sector – have installed training schemes for A-level students that would allow them to bypass university, others – particularly in the public sector – will not even grant an interview to applicants without a graduate degree.
Recent data from the UK and eurozone shows young people continuing to be the hardest hit by the unemployment crisis. There are 979,000 unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK, after a 20,000 rise in the three months to February. The jobless rate in the single currency bloc hit a record 12.1% in March and youth unemployment was almost double that at 24%. In Greece and Spain more than half of all young people are unemployed, though it is unclear how many work in the hidden economy in jobs that sidestep national insurance registration obligations and income tax.
The International Labour Organisation is an agency of the UN. Its main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.
