Global youth: no work ethic, too demanding, disloyal
As with so much of research today, this book seems to point out the blindingly obvious. One cannot help feeling that the author has an agenda as there are significant omissions. The book concerns worldwide youth unemployment.
He admits that education and employment are highly correlated – who would have guessed? He also admits what we all know, and that is that there is a great misalignment between the education system and the labour market. Certainly, in this country the education system has been used as a placebo for unemployment. In the past, under-educated youngsters came out of school and went on the dole, but now they effectively pay for their own unemployment through university costs in which they study courses which few employers find useful.
The next generation are more demanding and less loyal employees than previous generations and one wonders whether they have the same work ethic. In this country we have the age discrimination directives. Many need to work longer to make up for the disgracefully sparse state pension, but there are a lot of people that actually want to work longer. Not everybody enjoys the prospect of spending their time playing bridge or golf.
The older employee is protected in Europe by inflexible labour protection laws. Is it surprising that in the US, China and the Far East where this type of protection is not so all-encompassing, you find youth unemployment is not as bad?
Good vocational training, such as in Germany and Denmark, have lower rates of youth unemployment, compared to such countries that do not, such as Greece, Italy and Spain. No kidding. But he also omits to mention that some of these countries’ economies are basket cases. It is all very well having apprenticeships, but apprenticeships for what? Our engineering and manufacturing are a shadow of their former selves. Much of the repetitive engineering jobs have been outsourced to the developing world – hence the better position of China and the Far East – and in our ever more technocratic world even tertiary education is often not enough. We are suffering from academic inflation with more young people receiving degrees than ever before, but what type of degrees?
With an ever more automated world and the prospect in future of artificial intelligence, things are not going to get better for the unskilled.
Forty years ago in the UK most shops had plenty of assistants. Now, most stores have a minimum of assistants employed at the front of the shop, relying to a great degree on self-service.The internet has also created great pressure on retail outlets.
I think the author’s biggest omission was to assume that all have equal intelligence and aptitude. Unfortunately far too many have neither.
Harry Katz is a consultant at HA7 Consulting
