Youth Unemployment, the Unsolved Problem.

Youth unemployment is an increasing problem in the world. More and more youth are out of jobs and it is increasingly difficult to find a job if not hold it for some time. We tend to neglect and put a blind eye to it because there are little statistical help to indicate the growing youth unemployment. Since the situation is worsening, clear analysis of this problem needed to be done.

Youth unemployment is the unemployment of people who are between 15 and 24 years. Generally jobless young people outnumber the old people who are out of jobs. The age between 15 and 24 is fuelling a debate because; some think that it is unfair to include children younger than 18 in unemployed youth category. Nowadays it is highly unlikely in the developed world and even in Sri Lanka, for a minor to enter into the work force. The typical age of starting to find employment in Sri Lanka is 18.

Most of us think that a young person can secure a job more likely than an adult because the young are more energetic so employers like them but it is not the case. Although young people have less commitment to social obligations and they can be employed for lesser wages but, they are not experienced. It may cost the employer more money to train an inexperienced youth than to recruit experienced adult worker for higher salary. This explains why the youth are the first to lose their jobs when an economic crisis hits. 

Young people experienced or not usually find temporary jobs, apprenticeships and internships. They are not well paid, have long work hours and require less if not no legal obligations for the employer to lay them off. In 2008 during the world financial crisis, developed countries were hit hard. Youth who were working temporary were the first to lose the jobs. Finding another work was getting harder and harder because when experienced workforce was getting laid off, they too compete with the youth to find work. This had happened in developing countries as well.

Sri Lanka’s situation

For a Sri Lankan youth, there are 3 main entry points to the job market

• Before finishing Advanced Level Examination (A/L) – Join family businesses and agriculture
• After A/L
• Graduates 

Only those who go for family businesses and agriculture without doing A/Ls can stay intact from unemployment. If their families are not self-employed or work in agriculture, it will be very hard to find even a low paying entry level job. Those less educated youth no longer has the luxury of getting into the army because, new recruitment is virtually halted after ending the Sri Lankan civil war. Large portion of youth searing for low paying jobs may get them but those jobs are not secure. Youth have a high chance of getting laid off occasionally.

Those who join the work force after Advanced Level Examination (A/Ls) may find employment in finance, marketing or small scale manufacturing industry. If a youth has done Science, Mathematics or Commerce as subjects in A/L may get a chance but others will be left out in the streets without jobs. Since the university entry is so competitive only 1% of students will get the chance to go to government universities. Those who can’t afford to go for private higher-education will face a dark future.

Only portion of the graduates are fortunate to find jobs. Even if they found, they will surely be under-employed working in low positions. Government may employ them but they surely be put into jobs which should be done by the second category (Non-graduated with only the A/L qualification). Sadly under-employment in which a worker is put to a job that is lower than his qualifications and pay grade is very common in recent graduates. Unemployed graduate problem is present despite of the government’s effort to give state sector jobs to graduates. Medical, Engineering and Finance graduates are less likely to be affected by unemployment where Arts and Humanities graduates have the threat of being under-employed if not unemployed.

Sri Lankan youth employee’s main problem is not getting laid off but finding a work first. . Lucky few find government jobs which are underpaid and seem to be a waste of time and youth energy. The irony is that the youth prefer it because those jobs’ security and less workload

To address this grave problem, modifications for global and local job markets, economies and education systems needed to be done simultaneously and synchronously. We need to train our children for jobs which have not been invented yet; for that, future trends need to be understood. More and more students should be moved from humanities field to technology and service oriented education. Arts and Humanities are also important but number of students doing that is currently high and needs to be lowered by giving quality humanities education for fewer students. Vocational education is also important. There will be more and more opportunities in construction and energy sector

The global population is aging. There are more and more old people so youth have to support them. We can’t afford to get the economy into recession which will cut the jobs and further put the economy in downward spiral to collapse. 

Although we are not aware of long term effects of youth unemployment, it stands off as one of the gravest problems lying ahead of us.  Youth are the power and life-blood of the future. That power needs to be harnessed correctly. If we don’t give the youth the chance to contribute to the economy, economic and social problems will surely arise. That can lead to youth uprisings, revolutions and chaos which eventually topple the world so it is our duty to address youth unemployment problem immediately.