In Europe, Signs of a Jobless Generation
Euro-zone youth unemployment will remain elevated for at least the next half-decade, the International Labor Organization said Tuesday, forecasting a small reduction in the jobless rate will come from young people withdrawing from the labor market instead of stronger hiring activity.
The Geneva-based agency of the United Nations projects that 15-to-24 year-olds in the 17-member economic bloc will face jobless rates of nearly 22% in 2013 that will dip modestly to 21.4% in 2017. In the U.S., youth unemployment is forecast to fall from 17.4% this year to 13.3% in 2017.
Long-term youth unemployment has long-term consequences for young people and for businesses, according to the ILO and other labor market experts.
The longer someone is out of work, the harder it is for them to get a job and the more likely they will be stuck in lower-paying or temporary positions for the rest of their working lives. Already, more young people are being pushed into part-time work contracts, unable to secure permanent alternatives.
'Temporary and long-term unemployment early in a person's work life will have lasting effects on finding a job with the proper career perspectives related to that person's competences and skills. In some case, even 10 or 15 years after the person's entry in the labor market can he or she continue to suffer from such early adverse labor market conditions,' said Ekkehard Ernst, Chief of the ILO Employment Trends Unit.
'Skills and labor market experience typically start to deteriorate after six months of unemployment and then at an increasing rate.'
Youth unemployment is also a risk to the companies expecting to rely on their labor. Employers will face the challenge of finding workers qualified to fill vacancies, especially as the stretched-out recovery is 'likely to intensify the quest of young, more mobile people to seek their fortunes abroad,' says the ILO.
Many corporate leaders are already concerned, as euro area governments focus on trimming their budgets. 'The private sector does need to step up,' said Patrick Dempsey, managing director of U.K. hospitality firm Whitbread PLC's hotels and restaurants division
At the Business-20 Summit of global corporate leaders over the summer in Los Cabos, Mexico, a task force that included the chief executive of Coca-Cola Co., president of the Confederation of Italian Industries and president of the French Federation of Insurance Companies called for industry commitments of 'concrete action' to increase apprenticeships and internships by 20% in the year ahead.
They also challenged businesses to improve the image and quality of these training programs, so that they provide a better bridge between formal education and the type of skills employers need.
The call to action hasn't been heeded across the board in Europe.
Most new apprenticeship and training programs are confined to the customer services, health, and retail industries. For instance, Whitbread has pledged to fill 50% of its job openings this year with young people; mobile phone and broadband provider O2 is increasing the number of paid apprenticeships; Starbucks Corp.'s U.K. business launched a 12-month apprenticeship scheme in February; and Tesco PLC is for the first time offering a two-year training program for U.K. school leavers to join its commercial buying and merchandising teams.
'We're less good at doing the high-level apprenticeships, like engineering or computers - the stuff which makes you really valuable in the workplace,' said Neil Lee, a senior economist at The Work Foundation of Lancaster University in northern England.
国际劳工组织(International Labor Organization)周二说，至少在未来五年，欧元区年轻人的失业率将继续高企。该组织预计失业率会有小幅下降，但导致下降的不是招聘活动增多，而是年轻人退出劳动力市场。
总部位于日内瓦的国际劳工组织预计，欧元区17国15岁至24岁人群的失业率将在2013年达到接近22%的水平，2017年将小幅降至21.4%。预计2017年美国年轻人的失业率将从今年的17.4%降至13.3%。
国际劳工组织和其他劳动力市场专家说，年轻人长期失业对年轻人自己和企业都有着长期的影响。
一个人失业时间越长，找工作难度越大，而且更有可能是一辈子停留在低薪岗位或临时岗位上。已经有越来越多的年轻人无法找到固定工作，不得不跟雇主签订兼职合同。
国际劳工组织就业趋势部(Employment Trends Unit)负责人恩斯特(Ekkehard Ernst)说，在职业生涯的早期阶段暂时或长期失业，将对一个人能不能找到一份职业前景与自己能力相符的工作产生持续影响；在某些情况下，即便进入职场已经10年或15年，这种早期负面经验也会继续产生影响。
他说，失业六个月后，技能和劳动市场经验往往就开始下滑，过后就会加速下降。
年轻人失业也对指望依靠他们效力的企业构成了风险。国际劳工组织说，雇主将很难找到合格劳动者填补职位空缺，更何况复苏过程过于漫长有可能加剧流动性更高的年轻人到境外寻找出路的渴望。
随着欧元区各国政府把重心放到削减预算上来，很多企业领导人已经对此引起重视。英国惠特贝瑞公司(Whitbread PLC)负责酒店与餐饮部门的执行董事登普西(Patrick Dempsey)说，私营部门确实需要进一步努力。
今年夏天在墨西哥洛斯卡沃斯举行的“Business-20”峰会上，一个由可口可乐(Coca-Cola Co.)首席执行长、意大利产业联合会(Confederation of Italian Industries)会长和法国保险业联合会(French Federation of Insurance Companies)会长等人组成的工作组呼吁企业采取切实措施，在未来一年将见习生和实习生数量提高20%。
他们还呼吁企业提高培训项目的形象和质量，让其在正规教育和雇主所需技能中间发挥更好的桥梁作用。
欧洲并没有完全听从这种呼吁。
多数新设立的见习项目、培训项目都局限于消费者服务、医疗和零售行业。比如惠特贝瑞曾承诺今年50%的空缺岗位用年轻人填补，手机和宽带提供商O2将增加带薪见习生的数量，星巴克(Starbucks Corp.)的英国子公司在今年2月启动了一个为期12月的见习计划，乐购(Tesco PLC)将首次为加入其采购和促销团队的英国毕业生推出一个为期两年的培训项目。
英格兰北部兰开斯特大学就业基金会(The Work Foundation of Lancaster University)高级经济学家Neil Lee说，我们不太擅长做工程类或电脑类的高端见习──这些东西才会让你真正成为职场的宝贵人才。
