“Demographic trends, particularly the ‘youth earthquake’ in Africa, mean that [that] Creating enough decent jobs will be crucial for social justice and the global economy,” added International Labor Organization (International Labor Organization), for releasing new data on trends in the global job market.
“Millions of young people around the world are having their aspirations for decent work thwarted,” the ILO stressed, adding that while the global youth unemployment rate fell to 13% in 2023 – below pre-pandemic levels and is expected to fall further in 2024 and 2025 – the recovery is “uneven”.
“In East Asia (up 4.3 percent), the Arab States (up 1 percent) and South-East Asia and the Pacific (up 1 percent), youth unemployment rates continued to rise,” said Sara Elder, Head of the ILO’s Employment Analysis and Public Policy Department.
Lack of opportunity
Equally worrying is the finding that more than one in five young people last year were not in employment, education or training – a situation the ILO calls “NEET”.
“If you are a young woman, the challenge of staying in education or getting a job is doubled – two in three NEETs are women,” notes Ms Elder.
Another important development in the youth labour market is that it is now “harder than ever” to find a decent, stable job, according to the ILO, which estimates that nearly 65 million young people were unemployed last year.
Inheritance bias
“Most young workers still lack social protection (and) remain in temporary jobs that make it difficult for them to move forward as independent adults,” Ms Elder continued, noting that only one in four young workers in low-income countries are likely to have a stable and regular job, compared with three in four in richer countries.
The UN labour agency found that the pressure to find work is weighing heavily on young people, with two in three saying they fear losing their jobs. This is despite the fact that today’s Generation Z job hunters “are also the most highly educated group of young people ever,” the ILO asserted.
“Decent work is a ticket to a better future for young people. And a passport to social justice, inclusion and peace. It is time to create opportunities for a brighter future,” said Ms. Elder.
In a call for young workers around the world to call on their governments to change and create more job opportunities, the UN agency highlighted ongoing gender bias in the labour market, which still favours men over women.
The report finds that the youth unemployment rate for both young women and young men in 2023 will be “almost equal” (at 12.9 percent for young women and 13 percent for young men) – whereas in pre-pandemic years, the rate was higher for young men. Equally worrying, the ILO notes that in 2023, the global NEET youth rate for young women has been more double Meanwhile, the rate among young men was 28.1 percent and 13.1 percent.
Millions of people miss out
“Opportunities for young people are highly unequal, with many young women, young people with limited financial means or from any minority background still struggling,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo. “Without equal access to education and decent work, millions of young people are missing out on a better future.”
“None of us can expect a stable future when millions of young people around the world do not have decent jobs and therefore feel insecure and unable to build a better life for themselves and their families,” the ILO Director-General stressed.
Follow the trend
Here are some long-term trends in the labor market for young workers highlighted in the ILO report. Global employment trends for youth in 2024 report:
- There are not enough high-skilled jobs to supply the educated youth, especially in middle-income countries;
- Growth in “modern” services and manufacturing jobs for young people is limited;
- Maintaining the pace of skills development to keep pace with the growing demand for green and digital skills will be crucial to reducing education imbalances.
