Current world trends indicate that, at least in the short to medium term, unemployment levels will continue to rise. Countries in the developed world have already gone the route of massive layoffs as major industries begin to falter in the global economic crisis. In the US, the auto, airline and financial sectors, particularly companies that deal with mortgages and other loans, are the ones that are facing the most heat and they have sent home employees – in the thousands. As a result people with work experience, many of whom have families to provide for, are back on the job market vying with young graduates and school leavers for positions; not a good scenario.
There are now higher levels of joblessness among unskilled youth, who would generally find work in fast-food joints, mall stores or low level clerical positions. The reason? Skilled youth – those with diplomas and degrees – are temporarily taking these positions while waiting for openings elsewhere.
In Britain, a recent study has found, unemployment among young people had risen to 14.4% last year, up from 11% in 2002, again particularly among the unskilled. In response, the government has introduced an Education and Skills Bill now before Parliament, which when passed, would require young people to participate in education and training until they obtain a qualification or turn 18. In addition, a new learning regime that will be fully operational in 2015, will see youths being able to choose among a range of composite qualifications combining theoretical and practical learning, and an apprenticeship entitlement.
Here in Guyana, the Ministry of Labour said this month that its Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA) had placed 878 persons in jobs for the first half of this year and was seeking placements for another 1,200 people. It did not supply statistical breakdowns with regard to age groups, skill levels or gender, which would have been useful.
Many employers still advertise in the daily newspapers and their prospective employees still only use this medium. Applicants, most of whom are unsuitable, are usually overwhelming in number, perhaps providing a truer measure of the employment situation. In addition, a walk through low-income city wards or rural villages will reveal many idle youths. These would mainly be young people who would have dropped out of school, are unskilled and have fallen through the cracks, and are therefore vulnerable to crime and being preyed on.
There are programmes that are responding to these challenges, but there are not enough to meet the ever-increasing need for skills training. In some cases too, the apathy that sets in among disadvantaged youths would not see them moving to access skills training unless they were pushed and in some instances dragged in that direction. In other cases, the lure of the fast dollar and the quick fix is too strong.
Interventions are being made but many more are desperately needed and these must be practical and for the long term.
The local job market can only sustain so many caterers, cake decorators, seamstresses and designers. However, a developing economy will always have room for skills in electronics, electrical, building, and in the field of agriculture, among others. For instance, if the ‘grow-more’ campaign is to be truly successful and a long-term initiative, then strides in crop research, development and diversification are vital. And given the climate change scenario there would definitely be need for the preservation of food for the times when planting would not be possible.
However, it is not sufficient just to target teenagers, in tandem with youth skills training there must be quality early childhood education which follows through into the primary level, which is often where the slide towards the cracks begins. There should be more checks and balances by the schools welfare division to ensure that children do not opt out. Parents should also be held legally responsible when this happens.
Each individual child’s ability should be noted so that s/he is adequately prepared for academic or vocational streaming when the time comes. There should be an end to discrimination with regard to vocational training. This is by no means a complete list of the measures necessary to prepare young people for life, but it’s a start and very doable.