World-wide

Citation

(2009), "World-wide", Education + Training, Vol. 51 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2009.00451bab.001

World-wide

Article Type: Research news From: Education + Training, Volume 51, Issue 2

Global employment trends

An intensified focus on youth at the international level in recent years has brought a greater understanding of youth labour markets and led to development of a growing number of national action plans for youth employment as well as other more specific youth-related policies and programmes at the national level. But has the increased global awareness of the vulnerabilities of youth brought about any quantifiable changes in their labour market situation? Are more young people attaining their desired job? The ILO’s third edition of the Global Employment Trends for Youth (October 2008) examines the most recent labour market indicators and finds that young people still suffer disproportionately from a deficit of decent work opportunities. However, progress has been seen in some regions. The report, which updates the world and regional youth labour market indicators presented in previous reports (2004 and 2006), is organized according to nine regional analyses.

Today’s young people are the most educated generation ever. They have clear ideas about fulfilling their aspirations at work and in society and seek opportunities for personal autonomy and active citizenship. Yet youth unemployment remains a serious problem. The number of unemployed youth continues to increase; between 1997 and 2007, the number increased by 13.6 per cent, from 63 million to 71 million. There has been a declining trend in more recent years, however. The number of unemployed youth seemed to reach a peak of 74.9 million in 2004 and has been declining since then. The youth unemployment rate increased as well from 10.9 to 11.9 per cent over the longer-term period of 1997 to 2007, but decreased from the decade high of 12.6 per cent in 2004. Youth make up as much as 40.2 per cent of the world’s total unemployed although they make up only 24.7 per cent of the total working-age population (ages 15 and over). Clearly, labour market integration of today’s youth remains a significant, and perhaps even growing, challenge.

Global Employment Trends for Youth; International Labour Office, October 2008. Available at: www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/download/gety08.pdf

Improving skills and productivity of disadvantaged youth

This report follows several important examinations of skills and youth employment by the ILO, following the discussion on promoting youth employment at the 93rd Session of the International Labour Conference (June 2005). The Conclusions of that discussion call for targeted interventions aimed at overcoming disadvantages that hinder young men and women from attaining basic education and vocational training, which in turn lead to lifelong difficulties in learning, low likelihood of securing employment in the formal economy, and high risk of extending the cycle of low education, low productivity and poverty.

The main problem examined in this paper is the insufficiency of formal education and training systems to reach substantial majorities of young people and prepare them for productive employment. There is therefore an urgent need for alternative, proactive approaches to education and skills development for disadvantaged youth. A review of such approaches was initiated in an earlier ILO Working Paper by Laura Brewer, “Youth at risk: the role of skills development in facilitating the transition to work” (Brewer, 2004).

This paper focuses attention on the connection between skills development and early labour market success for young people and their ability to realize their long-term potential for productive and gainful work. One of the key findings from this review is that effective policies and programmes address specific sources of disadvantage. In some cases, this has required comprehensive rather than narrowly-targeted programmes in order to respond to the multiple and inter-linked sources of disadvantage.

The report also emphasizes the importance of broad-ranging institutional support, including from workers’ and employers’ organizations, inter-ministerial collaboration, and public-private partnerships. The report also reminds us that youth employment promotion programmes, regardless of how well designed and implemented, will not be effective in the absence of effective sustained job growth.

Freedman, D.H. (2008), “Improving skills and productivity of disadvantaged youth; Employment Working Paper No 7”, ILO, available at: www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/download/wpaper/wp7.pdf

Managing tomorrow’s people – global survey reveals what the millennial generation want from work

The PricewaterhouseCoopers ’Millennials at work’ research looks at the opinions and expectations of over 4,200 graduates from 44 countries in relation to the future of work and their attitudes on subjects including corporate responsibility, technology, global working and reward/incentives.

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  Training and development is the benefit the millennials value most highly – particularly coaching and mentoring.

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  Millennials do not expect to reject traditional working practices.

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  Robust corporate responsibility is critical to attracting and keeping the new generation of workers.

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  A total 61 per cent of CEOs say they have difficulty attracting and integrating younger workers.

The perception that the new generation of workers, the “millennials”, are disloyal and will reject traditional work practices is a myth, according to a new global report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers.The “Millennials at work” research is part of PwC’s ongoing “Managing tomorrow’s people” series and is based on survey responses from over 4,200 graduates. Individuals in 44 countries were asked to respond anonymously about their expectations of work and careers.

The findings show that – while global opportunities and robust corporate responsibility are critical to the millennials – they expect to be predominantly office-based, work regular office hours and have a small number of future employers. The research therefore suggests that some companies should re-assess their efforts to attract and retain younger workers to ensure they are channelling their investment effectively, particularly in light of current cost pressures.

The importance of this is reinforced by preliminary findings from the 12th annual PwC CEO Survey, to be published in 2009, which show 61 per cent of CEOs say they have challenges recruiting and integrating younger employees.

Global mobility and working practices

Respondents were very open to overseas assignments, with Indian graduates showing the greatest appetite for working overseas (93 per cent) compared with 62 per cent of those from The Netherlands. A total of 80 per cent of all respondents want to work internationally. Of UK respondents, just 3 per cent did not want to work outside of their home country during their career – 84 per cent want to work abroad and the remainder are undecided.

Figure 1 Individuals in the EU-27 who use the internet at least once a week (%)

A total of 70 per cent of global respondents expect to use another language at work. While only 38 per cent cited English as their first language, 83 per cent expect to use English at work. French and Spanish follow with 19 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.

Reward and personal development

Globally, training and development is the most highly valued benefit for millennials in the first five years of their career – with one third of respondents electing this as their first choice benefit (aside from salary). Almost all respondents (98 per cent) stated that working with strong coaches and mentors is important to personal development. The three most popular benefits for UK respondents are training and development.

Technology and information sharing

The research confirmed that millennials view technology as key to socialising and networking, with 85 per cent as members of a social networking site such as Facebook.

The research was conducted in September 2008. The majority of respondents were new graduates who were due to start work for PwC. For further information, materials or to download the full “Millennials at work – perspectives from a new generation” report, please visit: www.pwc.com/managingpeople2020