A generation has been lost because of the crisis and the labor market skill mismatch. If it is true that the crisis cut work places and opportunities especially for young people, on the other hand enterprisers struggle to find candidates with the right skills to fit their vacancies.
Indeed, it seems that the required competences from the labour market and the skills owned by young Europeans are not yet aligned.
Day by day it becomes more urgent to fill this gap: more than 4 million young individuals in Europe do not have a job, according with May 2016 Eurostat data. Also the European Social and Economic Committee (EESC) calls for an action plan to find a solution to the youth unemployment phenomenon.
A strategy for young people skills
Training to the entrepreneurial, enforcing the TIC skills, Information and Communication technologies, transversal qualifications, effective internships and measures to facilitate mobility. These are true priorities. In particular, according to EESC it would be necessary to focus on creating the conditions for the spirit of initiative, the capacity to translate ideas in actions, creativity, and innovation, inclination to the risk, management skills, and team work. A similar education should be present since the early years of education, according to EESC opinion.
Digital skills, that Europe miss the most, should find a key role in the education system.
But it is also important that internships have to be based on work needs to better facilitate the transition from education to work.
According to the EESC, indeed the dual education system resulted very efficient and states should really evaluate how much is convenient to spend in investment policies such education policies that could bring advantages for youth employment and the enterprises competitiveness. However also partnerships with the trade unions, enterprises and training centres play a fundamental role: As from 2017, the EESC plans to support the creation of such partnerships in the framework of a joint project with Cedefop .
“Improving young people’s skills and employability is not a matter solely for young people. It is a responsibility that should be faced and shared by all stakeholders – governments, schools and universities, the social partners, and others. Employers, workers, and organised civil society players know what skills are needed in the world of work and are eager to share their reservoir of expertise and wealth of insights to ensure that Europe’s next generation is equipped with the skills to actively shape its own present and future” says Vladimíra Drbalová, rapporteur of several EESC opinions on this subject.
Languages play a fundamental role in the education: mobility it is essential to find a job and to make the most of an experience of work or study abroad the knowledge of languages is a good point of start. But EESC also calls for “A European Area of Skills and Qualifications” to make more transparent the process to recognise the skills at a European level.
Spending on youth competences and trainings should be considered by European states an investment for the societies.
A generation has been lost because of the crisis and the labor market skill mismatch. If it is true that the crisis cut work places and opportunities especially for young people, on the other hand enterprisers struggle to find candidates with the right skills to fit their vacancies.
