In developing countries, about two third of young people are uneducated. This has robbed their chances of finding a decent job. Even though some of them do start school, their socio-economic status and other factors force them to drop out even before completing secondary level education. These young people have no option but to work in low-wage jobs. The situation is more pathetic for uneducated young women. If you are a young male, you naturally have better employment opportunities regardless of your educational qualification. [break]
In developed countries, we can see another aspect of youth employment crisis – skills-mismatch. The number of unemployed low-skilled youth is often higher than those who are highly skilled. The second type of skills-mismatch has to do with being highly qualified. According to ILO, this type of unemployment increased by 1.4% between 2008 and 2010. This means that some highly skilled youth are forced to take up jobs for which they are over qualified. As a result, this has reduced job opportunities for the low-skilled youth. Hence, skills-mismatch depresses wages, dulls satisfaction and reduces productivity. There are also cases of irregular employment and inactive population. More and more young people between 15-29 years of age are economically inactive because they are fully focused in school so that they become qualified enough to integrate well in the labor market in future.
A strong focus on growth and jobs is needed to mitigate the youth employment crisis. Small and medium sized enterprises should employ more young workers. Based on their qualifications and skills, young people should be given equal rights to jobs as that of adults. Otherwise the young people are trapped in the voluntary, part time and temporary works for a long time. Various employment programs void of corruption, favoritism and nepotism should be introduced in developing countries. The best employment programs combine education and training with work experience and job placement support. Youth-led entrepreneurship should also be encouraged and promoted by the government and non-governmental organisations. It is said that an empty mind is a devil’s workshop. So the energy, enthusiasm, intellect and ideas of the young minds must be utilized as the positive progress is on the hand of the new generation.
The writer is a student at Institute of Forestry (IOF) at Tribhuvan University.
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