Youth Unemployment Is The Next Global Crisis

[Romero]

The next global financial crisis has already started, in the form of nearly 75 million unemployed young people around the world.



If this mass of jobless youth doesn't find work, the consequences will be dramatic, a group of politicians and economists at the Concordia Summit warned -- from increased violence in the Middle East to ever-higher rates of income inequality in the United States to increased political unrest in Europe.



"Youth unemployment is dramatic," said José María Aznar, the former prime minister of Spain, where the jobless rate for those aged 15 to 24 is 56 percent. "It's jeopardizing the opportunities for future prosperity and growth."



The youth unemployment rate hit 65 percent in Greece earlier this year and 39 percent in Egypt last year, when the country was still grappling with the fallout from the Arab Spring and just before a new bout of violent, political strife.



By comparison, unemployment for those aged 20 to 24 in the United States is low -- but still a whopping 36 percent.



This youth unemployment crisis is "a direct result" of the global economic downturn, political scientist and best-selling author Ian Bremmer said in an interview at the conference.



The decline of the eurozone, combined with harsh austerity policies in countries where governments cut social services, made it increasingly difficult for young people to find jobs. Europe's problems spilled over into the Middle East because the region relies on Europe for trade, tourism and other industries, Bremmer said.



When a country suffers economically, younger workers are usually the last in and the first out, according to the World Economic Forum. And even as young people around the world are graduating with degrees, they lack the skills needed to fill the few available jobs.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/youth-unemployment-crisis_n_4004693.html">//http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/youth-unemployment-crisis_n_4004693.html

[Obvious Li]

Good morning Homy....not sure about Europe, however if they are on par with the utes i've seen in this country then i don't hold out much hope.....here, i doubt i would even interview with one in ten and maybe (probation-ally) hire one in ten of those.....if i need employees i look overseas or for older retired people here. Today's youths are soft, spoiled, pampered, uneducated, childish, immature, lazy, almost untrainable and require constant supervision and those are the good ones.



The only solution i see is the onset of a massive world wide event that would bring about the need for conscription of millions of under 30 somethings into the military for training in manners, discipline, respect, honor, duty, ethics morals and appearance......can't see it happening voluntarily. Other wise a large percentage of this generation is doomed to wander the earth working part time minimum wage jobs, engaging in criminal activities or just laying around in their parents basements.



Unfortunately for those who run afoul of the law, engage in occutard activities or just plain spend their time stirring up shit i recommend the full force of the government be brought to bear and we crush the little fuckers....

[Anonymous]

In the mean time, tens of thousands of jobs go unfilled in Alberta because employers cannot find candidates with the right skills.

CALGARY — Alberta has the highest job vacancy rate in the country, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, and that is translating into close to 55,000 unfilled private sector jobs.



The CFIB said Tuesday that as Canada's labour markets continue to recover from the 2008-2009 recession, the percentage of unfilled private sector jobs increased slightly from 2.3 per cent in the second quarter to 2.4 per cent in the July-to-September period.



The latest 2.4 per cent vacancy rate is equivalent to about 275,900 full- and part-time private sector jobs, said the CFIB. Canada's construction industry has the country's highest sectoral vacancy rate (3.7 per cent), although hospitality (2.9), agriculture, forestry and fishing (2.8), oil, gas and mining (2.8) and professional services (2.7) are also high.



Alberta and Saskatchewan have the highest vacancy rates (3.6 per cent each), while Newfoundland and Labrador (2.8) is also above the national average. Quebec (2.4), Prince Edward Island (2.2), Ontario (2.1), Manitoba (2.1), British Columbia (2.1), Nova Scotia (1.9) and New Brunswick (1.8) either match, or fall short of the overall rate.



"The smallest firms have the highest job vacancy rate and are being hit the hardest by labour and skills shortages," said Richard Truscott, Alberta Director for CFIB. "The considerably higher rate in Alberta also clearly refutes the assertion by some labour leaders that there isn't a shortage of qualified labour in our province."



He said the issue may be with the province for some time to come considering Alberta's forecast economic growth combined with its aging population.



"With the oilsands in particular coming on stream more and more with every passing year, the draw of people from every other sector into the oil and gas sector is going to become stronger and stronger and making it more and more difficult for employers in other parts of the economy to find qualified people," added Truscott.



Tarpon Energy Services Ltd., a leading supplier of electrical and instrumentation services, control systems and steel building solutions, is one of those companies finding it difficult these days to locate skilled labour.



Julie Sullivan, manager of human resources for Tarpon, said the company has done initiatives and advertising across Canada with a focus domestically first.



The recruitment strategy for the past 10 months to a year has taken a shift to the temporary foreign worker.



"We've been going out and going across the world trying to find out where the right markets are and where the pools of individuals are who have the trade skill levels that we require in Alberta for certified trades people," said Sullivan.



The company has 40 locations across Western Canada, the United States and internationally. There are currently 1,450 Canadian employees and about 800 are skilled trades including electricians, instrumentation technicians, structural welders and structural fitters.



The company went to Ireland and Scotland in October as part of Calgary Economic Development's initiative to attract workers to the city.





"We have probably about 50 electricians in queue to start making it across to Canada in the next quarter," said Sullivan, adding that the company is also keeping its focus on the domestic market.



"We're focused on growth. In order for us to grow our business, we anticipate that we're going to need to double our trade workforce in the next couple of years . . . We're doing what we can on the domestic (front), turning over every rock."



Ben Brunnen, chief economist with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said the vacancy numbers are consistent with the strong economic growth the province is experiencing.



"If the global economy remains stable, labour shortages are going to be the single greatest impediment to economic growth confronting Alberta. These vacancy numbers demonstrate that," said Brunnen.



"It's very possible that we're right at a peak level of vacancy rates for the province ... The global economy is at its highest risk of going into a recession since four years and we've seen some of the investment numbers for Alberta stabilize a little bit. However, we also are seeing the greatest period of net interprovincial migration since 2006. So that means people are coming to fill the job vacancies. We might see a bit of a plateau in terms of the total jobs created right now. So hopefully we'll see a bit of an alleviation in the next few months of the labour shortage in Alberta."



But if the global economy remains relatively stable and the United States economic picture is strong, the labour challenge could persist for Alberta employers, added Brunnen.



Ken Vinge, vice-president of corporate development at Bowen Workforce Solutions, said the company has seen a rise in demand for skilled people in the last three to four months.



"What's interesting is that these are permanent positions. Not your typical temporary or contract positions although we're seeing an increase in those as well," said Vinge. "It tells us, we think, that businesses are feeling pretty positive going into 2013."



He said operations support for the oil and gas industry is a particularly challenging area to find skilled labour including business analysts, purchasing people, engineers, mid-level to senior level managers.



The overall vacancy rate in Canada has risen from 1.7 per cent at the end of 2009, although it's still down from where it was before the recession, added the CFIB.



"Job vacancies have increased at the same pace as the economy has grown," said Ted Mallett, CFIB's chief economist and vice-president. "The small gain in vacancies observed in the third quarter mirrors the slow growth in GDP.



"Smaller businesses cope with the highest average unfilled job rates. That's a problem because labour shortages proportionately pose much greater management challenges to the owners and managers of small businesses than to larger firms."



Job vacancies are defined as openings that have been vacant for at least four months because business owners have been unable to find suitable employees. The third quarter findings are based on 2,518 responses, collected from a stratified random sample of CFIB members, to a controlled-access web survey. The series is based on 72,012 responses going back to 2004.

http://o.canada.com/2012/11/14/alberta-once-again-suffers-from-labour-shortage/">http://o.canada.com/2012/11/14/alberta- ... -shortage/">http://o.canada.com/2012/11/14/alberta-once-again-suffers-from-labour-shortage/

[Anonymous]

The next global financial crisis has already started, in the form of nearly 75 million unemployed young people around the world.



If this mass of jobless youth doesn't find work, the consequences will be dramatic, a group of politicians and economists at the Concordia Summit warned -- from increased violence in the Middle East to ever-higher rates of income inequality in the United States to increased political unrest in Europe.



"Youth unemployment is dramatic," said José María Aznar, the former prime minister of Spain, where the jobless rate for those aged 15 to 24 is 56 percent. "It's jeopardizing the opportunities for future prosperity and growth."



The youth unemployment rate hit 65 percent in Greece earlier this year and 39 percent in Egypt last year, when the country was still grappling with the fallout from the Arab Spring and just before a new bout of violent, political strife.



By comparison, unemployment for those aged 20 to 24 in the United States is low -- but still a whopping 36 percent.



This youth unemployment crisis is "a direct result" of the global economic downturn, political scientist and best-selling author Ian Bremmer said in an interview at the conference.



The decline of the eurozone, combined with harsh austerity policies in countries where governments cut social services, made it increasingly difficult for young people to find jobs. Europe's problems spilled over into the Middle East because the region relies on Europe for trade, tourism and other industries, Bremmer said.



When a country suffers economically, younger workers are usually the last in and the first out, according to the World Economic Forum. And even as young people around the world are graduating with degrees, they lack the skills needed to fill the few available jobs.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/youth-unemployment-crisis_n_4004693.html">//http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/youth-unemployment-crisis_n_4004693.html

Very interesting article Romero, thanks for posting it..

 :)

I am apolitical, but I do know how blessed I am to live in this wonderful country.

[Romero]

Thank you! Yes, I also believe we are very fortunate in comparison to most countries.

[Romero]

Good morning Homy....not sure about Europe, however if they are on par with the utes i've seen in this country then i don't hold out much hope.....here, i doubt i would even interview with one in ten and maybe (probation-ally) hire one in ten of those.....if i need employees i look overseas or for older retired people here. Today's youths are soft, spoiled, pampered, uneducated, childish, immature, lazy, almost untrainable and require constant supervision and those are the good ones.



The only solution i see is the onset of a massive world wide event that would bring about the need for conscription of millions of under 30 somethings into the military for training in manners, discipline, respect, honor, duty, ethics morals and appearance......can't see it happening voluntarily. Other wise a large percentage of this generation is doomed to wander the earth working part time minimum wage jobs, engaging in criminal activities or just laying around in their parents basements.



Unfortunately for those who run afoul of the law, engage in occutard activities or just plain spend their time stirring up shit i recommend the full force of the government be brought to bear and we crush the little fuckers....

I don't think that's true about our youth at all. It's no coincidence youth unemployment rates have skyrocketed since the global recession. There are fewer jobs, lower wages and there's lower employment security.

[Romero]

In the mean time, tens of thousands of jobs go unfilled in Alberta because employers cannot find candidates with the right skills.

Tens of thousands have filled those jobs but we can only expect so much. It's not easy to leave homes all across Canada to head to the oil sands. Our youth need more local jobs.

[Romero]

Ontario youth looking for a job may have better luck in parts of the U.S. Rust Belt or the Eurozone, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.



Five years after the end of the Great Recession, the province's youth have been largely shut out of the recovery, the report found, "and the province's current youth employment strategy isn't fast enough nor robust enough to turn things around."



Hovering around 16.9 per cent in 2012, Ontario's youth jobless rate "rivaled that of Michigan's and was higher than Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin," the CCPA said.



Some Ontario cities — Windsor, Oshawa, Brantford and London — have youth jobless rates above 20 per cent, "putting them on par with high youth unemployment levels in the European Union," the report states.



The CCPA offers two possible reasons for why Ontario now has the worst youth job climate of any province outside the Maritimes: The "national economic shift away from manufacturing towards resource extraction," and post-recession government austerity measures.



"Ontario has Canada's largest manufacturing sector, so the hollowing out of Canadian manufacturing most severely impacts both youth and adult employment," the report said.



That appears to be reflected in the fact that Ontario's manufacturing centres, such as Windsor and Oshawa, also have the province's highest youth unemployment rates.



http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/27/youth-unemployment-ontario_n_4003786.html">//http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/27/youth-unemployment-ontario_n_4003786.html

[Obvious Li]

In the mean time, tens of thousands of jobs go unfilled in Alberta because employers cannot find candidates with the right skills.

Tens of thousands have filled those jobs but we can only expect so much. It's not easy to leave homes all across Canada to head to the oil sands. Our youth need more local jobs.[/quote]





yes homy...it's not easy untying from mommies apron strings for their first look at the real world...but shucks golly gee it's gotta happen sometime....unfortunately, as always, the person looking for a job generally has to go where the jobs are.....that is the whole point about this nonsense...if these spoiled self centered brats would educate themselves for the jobs available and then go where the jobs are we wouldn't be having these discussions.....however, as has been shown, they would rather occupy something or protest Harper than put the same effort into getting THEMSELVES a job job.......

[Anonymous]

Right you are OL, a person has to go to the work. Ontario and Quebec are both poorly governed and as a result they are sinking further economic quicksand.

When looking for a job, there's probably no better feeling than opening up your local newspaper and seeing a whole list of employers looking for someone just like you.



However, employers in the city of Grande Prairie may not feel the same way.



A recent survey, Monthly Business Barometer, conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), showed many employers in Alberta struggling to find and keep skilled workers at their business.



"Our members feel that we have an employee shortage or a labour shortage here in the Alberta," said Anne Scott, business counsellor for Alberta CFIB.



"Lots of good economic activity which means there are lots of jobs and that means that... people have more opportunities available to them."



While the jobs are available, former co-owner of Davco Solutions and current industrial consultant Janet Plante, said not many people are willing to take them, forcing employers to be very creative in trying to attract needed employees. Sometimes, she said, even relying heavily on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.



"We had very creative bonus systems, we paid benefits, just about anything that you could possibly try to encourage employees not just to stay but to also invite family and friends to come to work for us," she said.



Plante said attracting employees isn't as simple as giving away a higher salary. She said while that may attract some it's the other add ons such as flexible schedules and signing bonuses that keep people coming in.



"We have a lot of measures in place, although I know they are trying to work with those but we have things in place so you don't really have to move if you're willing to settle for a little less so there's not a lot of incentive to pick up your entire family and move them to another region in the country."



In order for businesses not able to muddle through the worker shortage, Plante said some employers need to look at their productivity and see what internal changes can be made in order to make the most of the employees they already have.



"We did a lot of things manually, so (for example), the time cards. We added up the time cards and put the times on the job manually," Plante explained.



"Until we decided that that's really taking up somebody's time when it doesn't need to and we implemented a computer system where the guys signed in right to the job so that then all of a sudden, I had one person who used to all the time cards, I could have her watching the receivables."



Chairwoman of the Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce, Shawna Miller, said many employers in the community are feeling the strain of the worker shortage.



"When I am out in the community and I am out talking to other business owners and stuff like that, they are, from our food service right up to our larger corporations, all expressing shortages in labour, not only in skilled labour but unskilled labour as well," she said.



Unfortunately for those employers, the worker shortage is predicted to get worse. Miller said she had heard that the province will have anywhere between 200,000 to 350,000 jobs available with no workers applying for them.



"That is something that is going to have to be addressed long term," she said. "Ultimately, we're going to need more people in the community to fill those jobs and whether that's from other parts of Canada or from other countries, I'm not sure yet."



Miller said relying on the Temporary Foreign Workers program, for example, is only a temporary fix that has been helping employers in the community get through the moment. She said a more permanent solution is needed.



"It's not really thinking for the future. But I do know that a lot of people including the Alberta government are really committed to working at trying to handle this for the future," she said.



"I think there are some really great solutions moving forwards and stuff like that it's just a matter of working together to figure them all out. With the federal, provincial governments, the local chamber and our municipalities working together (to) make sure we find a solution that works for everybody."

http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/2013/08/19/booming-economy-creates-struggle-for-employers">http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/2013/ ... -employers">http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/2013/08/19/booming-economy-creates-struggle-for-employers

[Romero]

Not all youth want to work in the oil sands, let alone move across the country. They rightfully want other careers. Imagine hypothetically if the oil industry was dead and the Atlantic fishing industry was booming. How many Alberta youth would head off to the Atlantic provinces? Not many.



The unemployment rate for Alberta youth is 8%. Not bad, but it's more than the nearly 5% overall unemployment. A lot of Alberta youth don't want to work in the oil sands even though it's right in their own province.



Are our youth today "spoiled self-centered brats"? Absolutely not. There's nothing stopping older adults from moving to Alberta and taking those jobs. They're not chomping at the bit either.



How many of us here are working in the oil industry? One? Exactly. We're all doing what we want to do. Can't blame youth for wanting the same.



And everybody running off to the oil patch doesn't help their local economies. Regional and community economies depend on a diversity of good jobs. Even right in the oil patch itself.

[Obvious Li]

Not all youth want to work in the oil sands, let alone move across the country. They rightfully want other careers. Imagine hypothetically if the oil industry was dead and the Atlantic fishing industry was booming. How many Alberta youth would head off to the Atlantic provinces? Not many.



The unemployment rate for Alberta youth is 8%. Not bad, but it's more than the nearly 5% overall unemployment. A lot of Alberta youth don't want to work in the oil sands even though it's right in their own province.



Are our youth today "spoiled self-centered brats"? Absolutely not. There's nothing stopping older adults from moving to Alberta and taking those jobs. They're not chomping at the bit either.



How many of us here are working in the oil industry? One? Exactly. We're all doing what we want to do. Can't blame youth for wanting the same.



And everybody running off to the oil patch doesn't help their local economies. Regional and community economies depend on a diversity of good jobs. Even right in the oil patch itself.

don't disagree with these comments homy...however, if people don't want to go where the jobs are then quit bitching about not having a job, stop sucking up precious tax dollars for welfare and EI and stop interrupting my daily activities by spending your time protesting the fact you are too lazy to get up off your ass and participate in life....if you want to remain in bumfuck NFLD and try to live off a dead industry then you are free to do so...just be prepared to accept a significantly lower standard of living.....



we don't even need to get the whole discussion of useless tax payer subsidized degrees and where those get you....time for this generation to step up to the plate, grow up, get out of the basement and start to contribute./

[Anonymous]

^^But people are moving to Alberta for work.

According to the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, more than 250,000 Maritimers moved to Alberta over the past three decades, and the pace of migration is speeding up.

http://www2.canada.com/ottawacitizen/features/longevity/story.html?id=d52de511-1171-4be3-9605-34ac987b4eae">http://www2.canada.com/ottawacitizen/fe ... ac987b4eae">http://www2.canada.com/ottawacitizen/features/longevity/story.html?id=d52de511-1171-4be3-9605-34ac987b4eae

That article is a few years old and many more have moved since then. This is just from April-June of this year.

About 14,000 people moved to the province from other parts of the country. Nearly 6,000 of those came from Ontario, with another 2,100 from British Columbia and slightly more than 1,400 from Quebec.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Astronomical+growth+pushes+Alberta+population+above+four+million/8963079/story.html">http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Astronom ... story.html">http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Astronomical+growth+pushes+Alberta+population+above+four+million/8963079/story.html

This the reason young people continue to flock here.

Not only has Alberta added more positions for young people, the wages are the highest in the country, added Hirsch. Nationally, workers 15 to 24 years earn an average hourly wage of $13.88; in Alberta, the average is $16.91.

"This isn't to say that it's easy finding a job in Alberta if you're a young person. At 8.1 per cent, the youth unemployment rate in this province is still too high. However, it has improved from the 11.2 per cent three years ago," he said.



"Of the 348,000 young Alberta employees, a large portion of them, 148,000, work in sales and service occupations. This is unsurprising as many teens and young adults enter the workforce in entry-level positions in restaurants, food courts, retail shops and the accommodation industries."



According to the Alberta government, the unemployment rate for youth, aged 15 to 24, was 8.1 per cent in August, down from 9.3 per cent a year ago. Alberta's overall unemployment rate was 4.8 per cent, up 0.4 percentage points from last year, and second lowest in the country behind Saskatchewan's 4.2 per cent.



Nationally, according to Statistics Canada, the youth unemployment rate in August was 14.1 per cent, down from 14.7 per cent a year ago. Overall, Canada's unemployment rate was 7.1 per cent, down from 7.3 per cent in August 2012.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Alberta+place+young+seekers/8916920/story.html">http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/A ... story.html">http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Alberta+place+young+seekers/8916920/story.html

For people with some safety tickets and clean current driver`s license they can make much more than that in the conventional oil and gas sector. Working directly in the oilsands generally requires skilled workers, but they still need support workers for camps, hotels, construction etc. The work is here if you are ambitious. If not, then don`t complain there's no work.

[Odinson]

Most companies only take experienced workers.



How could she/he ever get experience if she/he never gets a job.

[Anonymous]

Most companies only take experienced workers.



How could she/he ever get experience if she/he never gets a job.

I think it depends on the local job market Odie.