It has been approximately one and a half years since I came to the valley to establish myself as a writer. But I am still struggling. I long to show my writing samples to someone who will recognize the quality of my writing and reward me with a job (any kind) in the magical world of media. So that I will be able to erase the tag of “unemployment” from my person. In the beginning, I used to think that unemployment is just my problem, but when I went through some articles, I came to know that it’s a national issue. If we were to analyze statistics, they will tell us how our youths’ talent and mental and physical efforts are being wasted in places where they are not appreciated.
According to International Labor Organization (ILO) Magazine’s April issue, 78 million youths were unemployed in 2011 globally, above the pre-crisis level of 73.5 million in 2007, but down from 80 million in 2009. The unemployment rate among youth aged 15-24 stood at 12.6 percent in 2010, which had later reached 12.7 percent in 2012, 2.6 times compared to the adult rate of unemployment. Also, it was projected that there will be nearly 75 million unemployed youth in 2012, and 73 million in 2013. [break]
agbeat.com
At some places youth are rewarded for their work, but with compensation far below what they deserve. Data suggests that two-thirds of the youth are kept away from work that is economically relevant. That is perhaps the reason 400,000 Nepali youth migrate for better opportunities every year. Instead of working on the issue and coming up with better alternatives, Nepal government continues to issue visas and passports at a high rate. The government probably encourages such youths because foreign employment has become the backbone of Nepali economy. Formal remittances from three million Nepali migrant workers across the globe reached Rs 262 billion in 2010.
One often hears that “if a person has talent, then he/she can easily carve his/her way to success”. I bet those who say this are applauded, but I also bet they don’t know much about success. For success, there are two required components: the talented individual and someone who can recognize that talent. The absence of any one can devalue the talent and derail the talented person’s journey towards success.
Recently, Business 360 magazine posted a question on its Facebook page: “How can an organization find the right talent with the right skills for their business?” I would have suggested the magazine survey the real situation first, it’s not organizations that are struggling to find the right talent. It is youths who do not get proper platform to showcase their talent who are really struggling. Those in top posts of these organizations first of all ask applicants about work experience. They ignore the fact that if everyone asks for experience, how can a newcomer get a break? Instead of asking such a question, these organizations should develop a system of providing practical knowledge related to the post before appointing someone.
Some organizations issue vacancy notices for deserving candidates, but in actuality family members and friends of the top brass get the jobs. After all, their near and dear ones too suffer from the disease of unemployment. I have personal experience of the same, when I had applied for the post of desk editor at an FM Station. After waiting for two weeks, when I called to ask for an interview, I got the rude reply that they had already hired someone.
I know I fulfilled their criteria. In that case, wasn’t it their responsibility to call me for an interview? Also, wasn’t it their responsibility to notify all candidates that they had hired someone for the post? If we do not change such irresponsible practices, we will not be able to stop our youth from believing they are wasting their time in Nepal, and leaving the country in droves for greener pastures.
Ssureshmukhiya@gmail.com
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