Today is the final entry of the five-part series discussing the youth unemployment crisis but before I conclude I want to briefly touch on the previous four entries. I began this series by talking about a warning that was given by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) that if the crisis was allowed to continue uninterrupted it would result in the creation of a "lost generation" of youth. The OECD warning was directed at policy-makers in the developed world in order to generate an appropriate change of course. I used this warning as a segue to discussing the crisis around the world and examine the reported statistics as provided by the OECD.
The second installment of the series was spent looking into the ramifications of the crisis on both the individual and society. The resulting research that I came across was staggering in its possible predictions of the grim future that may be in store for future generations. The third part of the series focused on the reported success story that Germany has experienced in their youth employment. I talked about the duel training system the country employed in conjunction with their strongly regulated job market. This entry also examined the opposition to the system and the possibility that their reported success may in fact be a result of negative labour traits and youth "parked" in the training system.
Yesterday's post addressed the growing subgroup which some countries refer to as "Neet" (Not in Education, Employment or Training). While the classification of this segment of society fluctuates depending on the country, it's a situation made much more prevalent due to the youth unemployment crisis. As promised yesterday, I will be spending the final entry talking about the labour market in today's climate and presenting career searching advice that's applicable for any age group interested in any field. I will also touch on the importance of social media and personal branding when applying for work. A word of caution, this entry will likely be quite long as there is a lot of material to discuss. If I find the entry is too long I will split this into a two part conclusion, with the second part to be posted tomorrow.
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| Demonstrators protest against labour reforms in Spain. (Andrea Comas / Reuters) |
When discussing the labour market in 2012 it's vital to refer to the International Labor Office (ILO). According to their website, the ILO is the international organization responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labour standards. It's the only 'tripartite' United Nations agency that brings together representatives of governments, employers and workers to jointly shape policies and programs promoting decent work for all. If you are interested in employment trends for 2012 there is no better document than the Global Employment Trends 2012 report, a summary of which can be read here. For those who want information about the youth employment trends there is a separate report that discusses this trend. The findings summary can be found here or you can read the document in its complete form here.
In September of 2011 the Economist published an article entitled, "Labor-market trends: Winners and losers". The writer begins by discussing the latest Gallup Unemployment Index statistics, which at the time of this article stood at 19% of the global workforce. This percentage is made up of of the unemployed (7%) and those who have part-time jobs but would like to work more (12%). In addition to these numbers, the ILO reports that 1.53 billion people, roughly half the global workforce, were in "vulnerable employment", either working for themselves or in badly paid family jobs.
As we have already seen the youth have suffered worse than anyone when it comes to the labour market. According to the Economist article a reason for this may be the increased use of contract work, "Flexible contracts, which make it easy to fire people, were introduced for new entrants to the labour market but not for people already in work, so when firms had to make cuts the axe fell disproportionately on those flexible younger workers." Another reason that young people are being impacted so strongly is that older workers are staying on longer due to laws preventing age discrimination spreading across the workforce and the evaporation of early-retirement packages.
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| Crowds at a recruitment fair in Chongqing on Feb. 4 China is facing both shortage of labour and a surplus, a contradictory situation brought about by structural change in the economy. (CFP) |
The article also says that firms are relying on temporary, contract, or part-time workers because of their flexibility. Outsourcing is also on the rise for a number of companies around the world as cheaper solutions to full-time employees are sought after. One reason for these trends could be the removal of traditional benefit and retirement packages that exist primarily for full-time, senior employees. "These trends don't necessarily affect the number of jobs, but they do the quality of jobs, the security of jobs, how much people are paid and the benefits they get," notes Mr Reich. David Autor, an economist at MIT. Traditional white-collar jobs are also being wiped out thanks to the increased use of technology to replace tasks of a routine nature.
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| More than one in three recent graduates are employed in a low skill job according figures released today by the Office for National Statistics. (Cathal McNaughton / PA) |
Michael Oneal, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, wrote an article in May that said "more than a third of all employers globally are facing a shortage of skilled workers, but they are reluctant to hire until the right people come along." Oneal also quotes Manpower Chairman Jeffrey Joerres, who says that "employers have gotten used to doing more with less and hesitate to hire until they see demand and can find talent with the specific skills they need." According to a survey conducted by Manpower the hardest jobs to fill globally are skilled trades workers, engineers and sales representatives. Also on the list are technicians, IT staff, drivers, chefs, and management.
CNN also released a list of the top careers for 2012, many of which are mirrored across other similar lists. The top entries include health care professionals, IT, salespeople, accounting and finance, discount retailers, and life sciences and biotech. In fact, both the Huffington Post and Forbes discuss the fastest growing careers in 2012 with results that are also similar. They list health care, tech support, and customer service as the fastest growing industries around the world. Forbes expands its list by looking at the jobs less likely to experience growth; in which it focuses on agriculture, data entry, postal service, and typists.
As I suspected, this post went longer than I had originally planned when laying out this series. In order to prevent information overload, I will present the second half of this conclusion tomorrow in which I will discuss career searching advice, personal branding, and the use of social media when applying for work.
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