Abstract:

Throughout the world, two related tendencies exist each arguably unresponsive to the other: one the one hand, we see increasing levels of youth unemployment yet contrarily there are gaps in the labour market for which people with confirmed skills-sets are still needed. The International Labour Organization confirms global youth unemployment figures of close to 75 million and if we additionally consider estimations relating to those deemed underemployed this number could potentially triple. In EU terms, there are reportedly 24 million unemployed (Eurostat, 2015) with young people representing close to 20% of this figure.

Youth unemployment levels have proven stubborn and, with few exceptions, represent a challenge for the majority of EU countries. What is surprising is that the number of young people reportedly not in education, employment or training (NEETs) is not in all cases a direct reflection of the state of the national economy or consistent with economic growth or decline. Even where new labour market opportunities emerge, it is increasingly recognised that this alone is not sufficient to resolve the issue. The number of young people leaving education with few or no qualifications is still unacceptable as is the number of work-ready young people who possess the required motivation or aptitude for work.

So how can this paradox be changed? Firstly, it is important to consider the relevance and efficiency of current education and training provision. Secondly, there is room for a more considered approach to the distribution of the labour force into different work spheres, sectors or professions. Finally, there is a need to guarantee that young people leaving education and training are not only occupationally (vocationally) fit but that they also possess the required social skills and aptitudes for labour market entry.

The existence of gaps between knowledge gained, skills developed and the requirements of industry is no longer in doubt, and policy actors at all levels are well aware of the possible social and economic consequences. Yet, employers, educators and young people continue to exist in parallel realities. Employers continue to argue that recent graduates are not adequately prepared for employment yet there аrе insufficient numbers that invest directly in work-based learning activity. Teaching and training practitioners rely on proven delivery models to output regular graduate cohorts yet there is only limited interest in continuous professional development through which technology-supported and practice-centred approaches to educational delivery might be more fully developed and introduced. Finally, many young people remain unaware of the demands and expectations of the labour market with continuing levels of high unemployment doing little to motivate change.

What we know is that workers of the future will need to be more than just knowledgeable and skilled, they will need to be continuously employable, adaptable, flexible, perceptive, responsive and willing to continue to learn throughout their careers. Key skills for future employees will include social intelligence, cross-cultural competence, computational thinking, new media literacy, trans-disciplinarity, virtual collaboration and a design mindset. Our job as educators is to ensure that these skills are developed, delivered and fully understood.

Keywords:

Employability, education, youth, work, skills.