Pros And Cons Of Youth Employment Programs

By Author: Gertrude Petty
Total Articles: 8
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Effective labor market policies help alleviate current unemployment crisis. The government is creating sustainable solutions to remedy the stark increase in the country's unemployment rate. One of the most badly affected sectors in the population is the youth. Economists say that almost 2.5 billion young people are having a hard time looking for a viable job.

International labor organizations are encouraging local governments to implement various programs for youth employment. These are employment services, employment-intensive public works and community services, and labor market training. Each type of program helps in boosting youth employment. Nevertheless, they also have a downside in terms of providing long-term employment to young people.

Employment services help in solving career mismatch between labor market demand and worker supply. In this program, institutions provide career counseling programs to students in secondary education. These help the students choose a college degree that offers surefire employment opportunity after graduation. One disadvantage of this program is that it may create unrealistic ...
... expectations to students. In addition, this may not also be helpful to some who have a different career goal.

On the other hand, programs on employment-intensive public works and community services create employment opportunities by making public construction and social service a potential work for young people. This program boosts youth participation in state affairs while providing a source of income. There are varied workers' compensation programs available depending on the sector. Nevertheless, experts say that contractual and project-based employment can hamper professional growth among young people. In addition, salary in the construction and social services area are low, making it an unsatisfactory job choice for the young.

Moreover, labor market training involves the creation of training programs relevant to the existent labor market demand. This provides a solution for the career mismatch dilemma as applicants are given time to learn the skills needed in existing job vacancies. Existent in-demand jobs also provide good workers' compensation programs to young workers.

Good workers' compensation programs are necessary in creating sustainable, long-term employment for young people. Some youth employment programs have been effective in countries like Chile and the Dominican Republic.