CNV

Brussels, 21 February 2011 - The integration of young workers into the labour-market is a constant challenge. Though the youth very often have the necessary requirements they still encounter difficulties to eventually find a job, in general, and on their specific level of education, more in particular. There are a multitude of reasons for this. The youth-seminar held in Bonn, Germany from 27 – 30 January 2011 offered a platform to discuss the root-causes of the increasing problems young people face in finding a job.

The most important cause for these difficulties is the fact that we currently are faced with a strenuous labour-market, where it is hard to find a job at all. Young people are often the first to lose their jobs. A second important explanation for this, often used by employers, is their lack of experience. Both phenomena are not new. What is new is the high degree of young people that are affected. The figures show that the average unemployment-rate under young people (15 – 29 years old) in the EU 27 is 20%. There are, however huge differences between the various member-states. Whilst in The Netherlands 7.7% of the youth are unemployed, Lithuania has 37.6 % unemployed youth. The absolute number one when it comes to youth unemployment is Spain with 42.5 %. This is causing great problems for both the youth as well as the member-state.

What is the cause of the great differences between the various member-states when it comes to youth unemployment. First of all there are enormous differences in the overall level of development and therefore the amount of available jobs between the different countries. One cannot compare a country like Denmark with for instance Bulgaria. But what we also see is that the level of participation on the labour-market has decreased. This is partly caused by the increase of the number of young people continuing higher education, but also because youth unemployment is very sensitive of changes on the labour-market. Many young people get short-time contracts, making it more easy to dismiss them. This leads to a lot of frustration and has currently resulted in 1/3 of young people between 15 – 24 who are not in education and are without work. These are shocking figures. A large group will eventually never work, which will pose a heavy burden for society in the future.

When we look at the drop-out rates in the EU there are some alarming figures. Currently 14.4% of the youth within the EU drop-out early. There are, however, great differences between the various Member States. While in Slovakia this was 4.9%, Spain and Portugal have a drop-out rate of 31.2%. Malta has even a higher percentage with 38.8% (figures 2009). These are alarming figures which will affect the particular countries greatly. These young people are more likely to end up unemployed, poor or otherwise marginalised, thereby putting a heavy burden on society. The EU aims to reduce the average drop-out rate to below 10% by 2020 through urging the Member States to come up with policy that will tackle this problem.

Mrs. Gottbehüt, General Secretary of EZA, stressed that education is of the greatest importance. Youth should have the ability to educate themselves. There should be a constitution for the right on education. And both governments as well as NGO’s should focus more on this issue. We should all create incentives for education. This is also a task for trade unions. Due to demographic changes the next decade will be the one of employees. Shortages on the labour-market will force companies to attract young people. And due to their position they can demand possibilities to further educate themselves. Young people should recognize more the fact that education is a resource. By being educated the youth will be better prepared for entering the labour-market.

The EU 2020 Strategy shows that the EU is aware of the problems arising in the coming decade. For that reason they developed 5 points on which to focus. The first goal is to have 75% of the people between 20 and 64 years old to be employed. This is a tremendous ambition. What is striking here is that the EU takes the group 20 – 64 year-olds, while in many statistics other ranges are taken. The reason for that is that there is no European definition of what youth is. The same can be said when comparing the different member-states. Here too there exist many varieties.

To develop a good strategy youth should be better defined. Figures from 2007 show that there are approximately 96 million youth (15 – 29 year-olds) in the European Union. This is a almost a fifth (19.4%) of the population in the EU. What we see is that the participation of the youth decreased in the period 1998 – 2008. The reasons for this are twofold. On the one side they have difficulty finding and keeping a job, while on the other hand they are in education more. A part of the young people in education are doing so because they cannot find a job. Instead they further educate themselves.

Good strategies are of the greatest importance. Many people of the baby-boom generation will leave the labour-market, while not enough young people are entering. The prosperity of the EU largely depends on the integration of young workers. Additionally, it will become more important to attract well-educated migrants. For that it will be necessary to look thoroughly at one’s diploma. Today it is still too often the case that diplomas are not acknowledged. This is a waste of talent. Well-educated people often end-up with menial jobs far below their intellectual level. By acknowledging these diplomas faster these people could be incorporated much sooner.

There is still a lot of work to be done with regards to youth-employment, but at least it is high on the political agenda of the European Union. But there is a task here as well for trade unions. In collective labour agreements they could focus more on the rising problems. This way they will help both the employer as well as the young workers. A good strategy is of benefit to both.

Youth have the future. We cannot do without them. We will have to cherish them and their qualities. And for those in difficulty we should do our utmost to incorporate them. No person wants to be left out and in the future leaving people out is not an option any more. We need all the hands that we can get.

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