Youth unemployment - a rapidly growing global issue

According to a recent study by the World Economic Forum, 40% of the world’s unemployed are youth.

The Middle East and North Africa have the highest rates of youth unemployment. In Europe, the situation is only getting worse, so leaders recently held a summit, coming together to make plans to fight the joblessness among youth over the next two years. North America has a similar situation of rising unemployment in youth.

Youth unemployment is not just affecting ‘NEETs’ (a term describing youth that are Not in Education, Employment, or Training). In some cases, unemployed youth who have university education or higher have the same unemployment rate as those with a high school diploma. There may be employment opportunities however the applicants are unqualified for the skill set required for those available positions.

The effects from this growing epidemic have a significant long term impact on the economy. Unemployed youth are living off government unemployment benefits, living with their parents, not spending any money as a consumer, and delaying starting families of their own. The parents are forced to subsidize the living costs of their grown children, therefore minimizing their own consumer habits.

When there is economic instability, issues including poverty, health, crime and employability problems are close behind. With hard work and action on this subject from around the world, leaders can combat youth unemployment and stifle this cycle from occurring.

Through events across the globe, WorldSkills is exposing youth to many different skills, equipping them with an understanding of which careers are related to their interests and which careers are in need of skilled workers.

With the influence of role models in skilled careers, we can not only decrease the number of NEETs, but guide the way for youth to train in a skill that would lead them to gainful employment upon completion. When youth are encouraged to gain employable skills though training, the smaller the ‘gap’ will be between empty jobs and unemployment.