Why Youth Unemployment Remains High In Many Countries

[Fiatless]

I see only one reason why among youth are so many unemployed, even though they have everything to get job and want job. They are too much ambitious about their salary. Amount they want to get rarely matches amount employer wants to pay. I often see how youth without a year of working experience and freshly graduated from university, ask same salary as person who has been working for 10-15 years. However I understand why they want such large salary. Because life is expensive now, and they want to enter individual life with same or even more comfort from the start, as they have now living with parents.

Every country should have a wage structure. There should be a minimum wage for workers, so that nobody should be underpaid. This wage structure should always be evaluated and adjusted based on the rate of inflation. If the government refused to increase the minimum wage when there is a high cost of living, workers would have no other option but to ask for higher pay from employers. In some countries, minimum wage is readjusted regularly to conform with current economic realities.

[HajiBagi]

Based on the rising population size I don't think that there can be Employment Opportunity for every youth because the number of youths who are of the employable age yearly is more than the available jobs, What this means is that as an individual you need to plan and focus on your personal development especially with building a skill that can help you become self sufficient tomorrow. If you have a skill you do not need to seek employment under anyone rather you become an employer of Labor and will even help the employment situation in your country.

I agree with you that everyone needs to focus on their personal development and other things that can help them to have a skills even before being employ, as an individual that is well educated you don’t need someone to tell you how to develop yourself because you have to be yourself to be able to attract companies and other organisations when you want to get a job but there is one thing i notice now about this life we are living, there is nothing like those who have the experience or those who have worked before, there are companies that even prefer the new people who have not worked before because they will be serious and make sure they follow the rules that guide the organisation, the reason why some the youth are not being employ is because the old workers don’t want to retire and even when some old workers retire they use the opportunity to put their children in the position and that has make it difficult for the youths to get work without connection.

[Crypto_Timothy]

I would add that many graduates struggle because of a mismatch between what they expect and what employers actually need especially in this economy, so like with rapid technological changes, it means skills become outdated much more faster than before. So imagine people who have been trained to work on their skill and they graduate school to find out people now use AI for skills, also if the market has shifted but then the education has stayed the same then we may have a general problem and of course the job market is undoubtedly more competitive than it used to be but i think demonstrating real-world experience often makes a stronger impression than relying on qualifications

[SUPERSAIAN]

The fact that you put outdated education as the first heading pleases me. Because one of the biggest reasons is that this education has absolutely no relevance to current professions. I don't understand why the world continues with such an education system.

It's very unproductive students are unproductive, and looking at the whole picture, it's unproductive. There isn't a single person who wins here. Actually, there are people selling the education, but they only think about sales, that's all. It's an outdated education families and students themselves have a big role to play here. They need to acquire professions that are relevant to today's life; you have to find your own profession in this day and age.

[uneng]

Youths are unemployed because they don't accept working for any categories of jobs. They are demanding and wish the world to fit their personal desires and preferences. To work for a low wage is too humiliating for a young person these days. They don't want to start from below and grow progressively. They feel entitled to start from the top already. That was what the government, the media and the educational system taught them to believe.

Now it's too late, as the damage has been already done to this generation. Hopefully the next ones can grow up with another kind of mindset.

[fuguebtc]

Youths are unemployed because they don't accept working for any categories of jobs. They are demanding and wish the world to fit their personal desires and preferences. To work for a low wage is too humiliating for a young person these days. They don't want to start from below and grow progressively. They feel entitled to start from the top already. That was what the government, the media and the educational system taught them to believe.

Now it's too late, as the damage has been already done to this generation. Hopefully the next ones can grow up with another kind of mindset.

It is undeniable that what you just mentioned is one of the reasons for the current youth unemployment rate. Many of them are becoming delusional  and have misconceptions about work and income.

However, another reality is that a segment of the population is unemployed due to a lack of job opportunities.  The real economy is growing slower than the labor force is expanding , leaving too few open positions to meet demand.  Furthermore, the rapid advancement of AI and automation has put many people who once had stable jobs at risk of losing them.


These factors also contribute to the increase in the unemployment rate.

[Yeesha]

White collar jobs ain't much these days because of lack of sufficient jobs. You need to learn a skill and be creative. There's no way you will learn a skill and not have the experience in that skill. This is why construction companies needs people with experience. It's only in my country that I have seen a graduate in engineering without any practical skills in that field.

They are a lots of job opportunities but limited white collar jobs opportunities. If you actually want to live a meaningful and stablize life now it is very important to be creative and secure a good job for yourself, find something productive doing despite being a civil servant, talkless of someone who doesn't have any white collars jobs. In my community as long as you are not a civil servant they will classify you as unemployed, they do not use to consider self-employment unless you are a big businessman, I don't know why they are underestimating the power of hand work, mocking people around without them too having a stable source of income. No matter what people are saying the best thing is to focus on yourself and your source of income, use your talents and skills to be creative and build your life gradually and ignore the rumour mongers.

[el kaka22]

There aren't any new jobs, and old people have the current jobs, so because new people graduate and look for jobs, and there aren't any, that means young stay unemployed. This is literally it, nothing too shocking about it.

I get that we are looking for something new, because old people retire all the time and young people should take the place, well not exactly, middle age ones take place of old, and young take place of middle age etc, everyone moves up a step, but we do not have people retiring that much anymore neither, people work until they are too old to work, plus we have less young people than old people in most countries these days, so we should be fixing this issue soon, but that requires another 10-15 years.

[JoyceBTC]

Based on the rising population size I don't think that there can be Employment Opportunity for every youth because the number of youths who are of the employable age yearly is more than the available jobs, What this means is that as an individual you need to plan and focus on your personal development especially with building a skill that can help you become self sufficient tomorrow. If you have a skill you do not need to seek employment under anyone rather you become an employer of Labor and will even help the employment situation in your country.

Building a skill is very important, as not every person will get a job or surely get employed by an organization or company. Building a skill can even help individuals earn more money than when they even work under someone. One very good thing about building a skill is that, no matter the amount of people that have that same skill, in as much as you are very good at what you do, one can still earn good money from it, which can not be compared to the labor market where the population of people are more than the job opportunities, making it hard for youths to get employed.

[r_victory]

Education is outdated
Colleges teach old books, but companies now want AI, digital marketing, and practical skills.
So degree alone is not enough to get a job now.

What you have just said is school is outdated, not education is outdated. People that did not go to school can be highly educated. Another one is that there are many people that go to school and get employed. Because people from your country are not employed, that does not mean it is happening in all countries.

AI reduced jobs but AI also create new jobs.

You hit the nail on the head. Today's generation—young people—already possesses all the knowledge the OP mentioned: AI, digital marketing, and social media management (my 16-year-old daughter already works in this field). They know far more than I do because they are constantly exposed to it, not because they learned it in school. The school they attend (I have two daughters) is funded by donations but uses the same teaching materials as the best schools in the country. Unemployment isn't a matter of education; I know plenty of people who didn't finish their schooling yet run their own businesses, however small.

Nowadays, it’s not just knowledge that opens the door to a job, but also behavior; likewise, people are fired more often for their behavior than for a lack of knowledge (since many companies offer professional training).

It’s not easy, but where there’s a will, there’s a way; those who don’t want to do it will find an excuse!

[Youngrebel]

Building a skill is very important, as not every person will get a job or surely get employed by an organization or company. Building a skill can even help individuals earn more money than when they even work under someone. One very good thing about building a skill is that, no matter the amount of people that have that same skill, in as much as you are very good at what you do, one can still earn good money from it, which can not be compared to the labor market where the population of people are more than the job opportunities, making it hard for youths to get employed.

Exactly, in this current economy relying on getting a job because you are a graduate or you feel like you are qualified to get one can be very risky mostly in developing countries because vacancies are actually very limited while the number of job seekers keep increasing everyday and thats why having a profitable skill is the best because it saves the stress of looking for a job and gives you the stress over your own income.

[slapper]

It is a broken deal you are talking about. Society was saying to a generation: get a degree, go to school, work hard, and you will be OK. This deal has now been broken. No one who sold it to us is taking responsibility for it.

We are graduating university students at a record rate. At the same time, however, the number of jobs requiring degrees is declining. ILO estimated as many as 260 million young people worldwide are simply floating. Not working, not studying, not training..

The experience trap is even worse than it is perceived. The "3 years experience" filter is being employed by companies since they receive 500 applications for each job posted and must reduce the pile somehow. It is not even about competence half the time. It is an excuse for laziness and the standard of recruitment. In the meanwhile, AI is devouring exactly the type of tasks you were constructing that experience with in the first place. So the ladder is being pulled from both ends.

Networking is just nepotism with better PR. When your parents do not know people in some industries, you have a 10-step disadvantage.

[iv4n]

References matter a lot
Many jobs are given through known people, not CVs.
If you don’t know someone inside, your CV often gets ignored.

If you don't know someone, or someone who knows someone, it's hard to get the job... even with an impressive CV & skills. I guess it's like that everywhere, especially in third-world countries. There are exceptions, but they are rare... at least in my country. I know many people with degrees & skills who work some ordinary job, just to earn some money while they wait for their opportunity. Sitting alone & crying doesn't help, we need to get out and do whatever we can, make contacts, and maybe something good will show up along the way.

[bakasabo]

I see only one reason why among youth are so many unemployed, even though they have everything to get job and want job. They are too much ambitious about their salary. Amount they want to get rarely matches amount employer wants to pay. I often see how youth without a year of working experience and freshly graduated from university, ask same salary as person who has been working for 10-15 years. However I understand why they want such large salary. Because life is expensive now, and they want to enter individual life with same or even more comfort from the start, as they have now living with parents.

Every country should have a wage structure. There should be a minimum wage for workers, so that nobody should be underpaid. This wage structure should always be evaluated and adjusted based on the rate of inflation. If the government refused to increase the minimum wage when there is a high cost of living, workers would have no other option but to ask for higher pay from employers. In some countries, minimum wage is readjusted regularly to conform with current economic realities.

I think every country already have a minimum wage, but it is calculated in very weird way. I remember there was a lot of talks when one of ministers explained on public how it was calculated. I remember it was mentioned that they calculated that a person would spend money on 1 trousers, 1 t-shirt, 1 shirt per year, buy shoes once every 3 years, that a person would spend daily around 3 EUR on food and etc. They have calculated that minimum wage was below 1k EUR, when cost of living was above 1k EUR per month. They do readjustments annually, but inflation % is still higher.

Situation with youth unemployment in my country. 2.5k EUR salary is considered as a very good salary, but this is the amount employees with 10-30 works experience earn. Youth want their salary to start from 2.5 EUR. Would you pay unexperienced employee that amount?

[Minor Miner]

References matter a lot
Many jobs are given through known people, not CVs.
If you don’t know someone inside, your CV often gets ignored.

If you don't know someone, or someone who knows someone, it's hard to get the job... even with an impressive CV & skills. I guess it's like that everywhere, especially in third-world countries. There are exceptions, but they are rare... at least in my country. I know many people with degrees & skills who work some ordinary job, just to earn some money while they wait for their opportunity. Sitting alone & crying doesn't help, we need to get out and do whatever we can, make contacts, and maybe something good will show up along the way.

In many cases, relationships are more important than qualifications and skill. A capable person who lack connection can still be left behind. Meanwhile, people with good connections sometimes get opportunities that others spend years trying to earn.

However, that does not mean that qualifications and skills are no longer important. Relationship can help you open up opportunities, but its your own abilities that determine whether you can advance and maintain your position. No company will keep paying someone solely because of connections if that person does not bring value to the business

In the end, your abilities are the deciding factor in whether you can survive and succeed in the long term.

[passwordnow]

Last month, China has dropped a lot of their courses in order to adopt the trend.

China’s universities cut 12,000 ‘obsolete’ degrees amid race to embrace AI era

This means that they're proactive in seeing what's good for the competition of their people. The obsolete courses have been removed so they'll be prepared for the AI race and make more AI experts. I think that's also one reason why many are unemployed with degrees. They take courses that are not in demand.

[freedomgo]

The fact that you put outdated education as the first heading pleases me. Because one of the biggest reasons is that this education has absolutely no relevance to current professions. I don't understand why the world continues with such an education system.

It's very unproductive students are unproductive, and looking at the whole picture, it's unproductive. There isn't a single person who wins here. Actually, there are people selling the education, but they only think about sales, that's all. It's an outdated education families and students themselves have a big role to play here. They need to acquire professions that are relevant to today's life; you have to find your own profession in this day and age.

What we are seeing these days is that this is no longer quality education because education is now mixed with business. And students nowadays are more focused on theoretical and abstract world, than to pay attention in developing practical skills that they can maximize when they are about to face the real battle and challenges after graduation.

Aside that these youths are unskilled and unproductive, another reason also is that the government lacks job opportunities that's why some are encourage to find jobs outside their country, and develop their practical knowledge and skills there.

[DYOR+BTC]

There aren't any new jobs, and old people have the current jobs, so because new people graduate and look for jobs, and there aren't any, that means young stay unemployed. This is literally it, nothing too shocking about it.

I get that we are looking for something new, because old people retire all the time and young people should take the place, well not exactly, middle age ones take place of old, and young take place of middle age etc, everyone moves up a step, but we do not have people retiring that much anymore neither, people work until they are too old to work, plus we have less young people than old people in most countries these days, so we should be fixing this issue soon, but that requires another 10-15 years.

Yes lack of employment opportunities appears to be of the reasons behind some youths lack of jobs now in the society,  most youths don't work not because they are lazy or don't have the zeal to work but because of lack of opportunities it is difficult for them to get themselves fixed in one place.
This issue of opportunities is a very serious issue affecting most society blessed with hardworking youths willing to give it all for the provision of there daily bread but lack of opportunities makes them look as if they don't want to work. So it will be necessary if attention should be channeled towards job creation as that is the only thing needed to justify if citizens are willing to work or not.

[Versatile_choice]

~~

The survival today is based on relying on yourself. The reason so many people succeed is because they have made their own career without help of government. Daily practice skill will be very important than waiting to become an employee. It is time to work out to us now, time will never return.

You're right about that, I can clearly see that those who were waiting patiently for the government to bring job opportunities for them have come to realize that if they keep waiting for the government they might end up achieving nothin, so for that they have decided to man up. I can see alot of them going in search of where they can get job opportunities while some are learning skills, imagine if they had come up with this idea from the onset I could imagine the man they would have become right now.But it's never too late, and the good thing is that they realized thier mistake now they want to make correction.

[DPHOR]

There are senses to what you are saying right away because many people have graduated years ago without employment, some could be as a reason of not having connection on that particular work place or company as we know, but if you know other things as skills at least, it would function as a propeller or a lifter that could quickly create that space for you.

Few things possible;
Which includes - having a good grade after graduation,
Have connections around few companies within or outside your environment.
Lastly, having diverse skills which would serves as a booster or an added advantage to you for quick accessibility and acceptability.

All these attributes to people become easily employed at any firm today, of course there are thousands of people who graduate every Year from school and their government can't afford to employs nearly every graduate that is it is very important to have multiple skills which would also serve alot for you while on the process of searching for white scholars jobs.