Youth unemployment is set to rise around the world, creating a "generation at risk" that faces lower earnings and job prospects years into the future, the United Nations' labour office warns.
An estimated 73.4 million people between the ages of 15 and 24 are expected to be out of work this year, putting the global youth employment rate at 12.6%, according to a report released Wednesday by the International Labor Organization (ILO). That's an increase of 3.5 million between 2007 and 2013.
In 2012, the global youth unemployment rate was at 12.4%. By region, the Middle East had the highest jobless rate, with 28.3% of youth out of work, followed by North Africa, where 23.7% were unemployed.
In wealthier nations, including the European Union, the youth unemployment rate hit a decades-long high at 18.1% and is not predicted to drop below 17% until at least 2016.
Six countries — Austria, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland — had rates below 10% last year.
In six of 10 developing countries surveyed, more than 60% of the young people were either unemployed or trapped in low-paying jobs, the report found.
Meanwhile in advanced economies, those who do find work are less selective and find themselves settling for part-time or temporary jobs out of desperation.
The report suggests that youth unemployment is fostering the generation's distrust in the socioeconomic and political systems, pointing to protests and anti-austerity movements in Greece and Spain. In those two countries, more than half of young jobseekers are unemployed.
The rise of skills and occupational mismatches is one of the factors contributing to the youth job crisis, the report says. Some jobseekers are undereducated and under-skilled while others are overeducated and over-skilled.
Moreover, long stretches of unemployment are leading to the obsolescence of some qualifications. This growing mismatch may become entrenched without policies to re-skill jobseekers, the ILO warns.
The report urges governments, employers’ organizations and trade unions to take action, recommending solutions such as support for education, training, and youth entrepreneurship; employment and labour policies; and recruitment incentives for employers.
