Young workers will be hit hard by COVID-19’s economic fallout

Susana-Puerto-and-Kee-Kim-240x150

Susana Puerto (ILO Research and Technical Specialist) and Kee Kim (ILO Macro-Economic and Employment Policies Specialist)

The COVID-19 emergency is affecting almost everyone in the world, regardless of age, income or country. However, young people are likely to be particularly hard hit by the economic fallout of the crisis. Find out five reasons why. Continue reading

Are young people overskilled or underskilled?

Paul Comyn and Drew Gardiner

Paul Comyn, ILO Senior Vocational Skills and Development Specialist and Drew Gardiner, Youth Employment Specialist

This week, as we prepare ILO’s participation in the World Skills Competition 2017, taking place in Abu Dhabi, UAE from 15-18 October, we are left to reflect on a major theme which is troubling governments, employers, workers and young people across the globe – the so called skills mismatch.

This year’s World Skills Competition features 1,300 competitors, 100,000 visitors and 51 skills. The competition will cover a diverse range of vocational categories including mechatronics, information network cabling, floor tiling, patisserie, and plumbing just to name a few.

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4 things you should know about NEETs

Sara Elder, CTA Work4Youth Project, Youth Employment Unit

Sara Elder, CTA Work4Youth Project, Youth Employment Unit

If you’re as baffled as I am by the speed at which the acronym NEETs has become standard jargon in the media, academia and international organisations, please take a moment to join me for a brief examination of what NEETs actually means. Read the technical brief

Who are NEETs? Strictly speaking, NEETs are young people who are “Neither in Employment nor in Education or Training”. Why is everybody talking about them? Perhaps because the idea of NEETs is vague enough to allow for all-encompassing interpretations of the challenges facing young people. NEETs has become shorthand for exclusion, marginalization, joblessness and discouragement. It’s even been given as evidence for a “jobless generation”, which—let’s face it—makes a great headline.

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