Global
business and public sector leaders were in Davos Swizerland engaged in debate
about the growing youth unemployment which many have said is growing in an
uncomfortable proportion. The panel discussion was made up of Nik Gowing, Omar
K. Alghanim, Dominic Barton, Aliko Dangote, Fatima Muneer. Taking the lead in
the discussion Mr. Dominic Barton, Global Managing Director, McKinsey &
Company, United Kingdom said “There is a sense that youth unemployment is more
of a cocktail conversation right now but we need to start seeing this as a
pandemic.”
According
to him around the world, youth unemployment is growing in uncomfortable
proportions. In India, which has one of the largest populations of young people
in the world, 75 million youth are unemployed and more than 1 million people
are added to the workforce each day. In Saudi Arabia, some 70 per cent of the
population is under the age of 30 and they are not finding jobs.
In
Nigeria, youth unemployment is as high as 50%. From Abuja to Seattle, the
number of jobless youth is a global phenomenon. The issue might not be
dominating global headlines, but Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Dangote Group, Nigeria, signalled that “our entire society is in
danger of destruction” unless we pay attention to this huge segment of our
young and jobless global population.
According
to Panelist at the Forum “This trend is occurring at a time when technology is
moving ever faster and transforming the labour market. As robotics, automation
and 3D printing play a larger role in the economy; future jobs for young people
will invariably take a hit. Looking back to the 1990s, the big three US motor
vehicle companies – Chrysler, Ford and General Motors – collectively hired 1.2
million employees. Today, the big three companies in Silicon Valley – Google,
Facebook and Apple – together employ a total 134,000 people.
Traditional
ideas about “work”’ are also being turned upside down. It is perhaps more
fitting to consider employment as participating in the economy. Companies such
as Uber, Airbnb or budding entrepreneurs in India learning skills from YouTube
and monetizing this knowledge at the local market are examples of a new way to
understand the participatory economic model.
The
McKinsey new problems call for fresh approaches and at the core of the youth
unemployment problem is a glaring skills gap. Surveys by McKinsey show that 75
per cent of university professors believe they are adequately preparing their
students for the workforce. Conversely, only 40 per cent of employers take the
same view.
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