Podcast - Lost in COVID-19 limbo-land: Pandemic hits youth employment hard
English
ILO
The International Labour Organization is the tripartite U.N. agency that promotes Decent Work through employment, social security, labour standards and social dialogue. Its work on skills development is guided by the conceptual framework on Skills to improve productivity, employment growth, and development agreed in 2008 by representatives of Governments, Employers’ Associations and Workers’ Associations. Research, policy advice, and pilot projects and technical cooperation programmes to apply good practices in different circumstances across its 185 member States aims to boost the employability of workers, the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises, and the inclusiveness of economic growth. The ILO Secretariat in offices in 40 countries works with Ministries of Labour, employers’ organizations, and trade unions to integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies in order to better meet current labour market needs and to prepare for the jobs of the future; to expand access to employment-related training so that youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are better able to acquire skills and secure productive and decent work; and to improve the ability of public employment services to provide career guidance, maintain labour exchange services, and deliver active labour market programmes.For more information regarding the ILO’s work on skills and employability go to: http://www.ilo.org/skills/lang--en/index.htm; for ILO/Cinterfor's Knowledge Management Plarform, see: http://www.oitcinterfor.org
Youth employability
Globally, nearly 68 million young women and men are looking for and available for work, and an estimated 123 million young people are working but living in poverty. The number who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) stands at 267 million, a majority of whom are young women. Significantly, young people are three times as likely as adults (25 years and older) to be unemployed.
Skills development is a primary means of enabling young people to make a smooth transition to work. A comprehensive approach is required to integrate young women and men in the labour market, including relevant and quality skills training, labour market information, career guidance and employment services, recognition of prior learning, incorporating entrepreneurship with training and effective skills forecasting. Improved basic education and core work skills are particularly important to enable youth to engage in lifelong learning as well as transition to the labour market.
Other knowledge products
Podcast series: Global challenges – Global solutions
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected young people not only in terms of their participation in the labour market but also through severe disruptions in education and training. In this podcast, ILO senior youth employment experts Niall O’Higgins and Sher Verick analyze the current situation and where we are headed.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world’s young workers hard. While the pandemic has had an unprecedented impact across the global workforce, youth have suffered greater job losses than other age groups. According to the latest ILO statistical update on the impact of COVID, which came out just before World Youth Skills Day on 15 July, employment of young people aged 15 to 24 fell sharply in 2020.
What’s more, the crisis and lockdown measures constrained young people from even looking for work, increasing the so-called NEETs - young people not in employment, education, and training—last year, leaving young people worse off for years to come.