#BTColumn – Young workers’ job crisis

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados TODAY Inc.

by Dennis De Peiza

The growing rate of unemployment amongst young persons, is a phenomenon that can be attributed to the global economic recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on global research findings, it would appear that young persons who fall under the forty-age group, have been significantly impacted.

This comes as no surprise, as it would be expected that young workers who occupy entry-level jobs in the form of internships and apprenticeships would be the first to be displaced. Apart to this, many would have been victims of the ‘last in first out’ principle which employers apply in the instance of layoffs and retrenchment.

The extent of the global problem of youth unemployment is captured in the ILO-OECD paper which was prepared at the request of G20 Leaders Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency 2020. In addressing the subject of ‘The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on jobs and incomes in G20 economies,’ it was stated that, “High and persistent youth unemployment and underemployment in the aftermath of the global financial crisis showed that once young people have lost touch with the labour market or become marginalised in informal and precarious jobs, re-connecting them with good jobs can be very hard with potentially long-lasting scarring effects.

As the pandemic is causing massive damage to the informal economy, the situation for young and women workers in this vulnerable sector is even
more worrisome.”

This is a revelation that is borne out by some startling statistics released by the International Labour Organization in 2020, on the impact the global recession and the COVID-19 pandemic have had on the
informal economy.

The relevance of this information to unemployment among the youth can be inextricably linked to the fact that many young workers have ventured into the area of entrepreneurship.

In addressing the impact on the informal economy, the findings of the Global Survey on Youth and COVID-19 which was conducted on young women, younger youth and youth in lower income countries, reported that in the first month of the crisis, it is estimated that there was a sixty per cent drop in the income of informal workers globally. It was concluded that this translated into an 81.0 per cent drop in Africa and the Americas, 21.6 per cent in Asia and the Pacific and 70.0 percent in Europe and Central Asia.

The findings of the Global Survey on Youth and COVID-19 which was conducted by Partners of the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth between April and May 2020, found that the impact of the pandemic on young people was systematic, deep and disproportionate.

It concluded that the pandemic was particularly hard on young women, younger youth and youth in lower income countries. In presenting a comparison with the pre-COVID economy, the findings revealed that unemployment rates for the younger groups of workers were significantly higher than the older groups.

The ages of the younger groups fell between 16-24, with the comparative made using the demographics of age, gender, race and ethnicity.

A senior economist Elise Gould and research assistant Melat Kassa, made the observation that young workers in the 16-24 age group are most likely to be unemployed or underemployed, unable to work from home and are more likely to work in industries and occupations with the largest job losses in the coronavirus recession.

There is the shared view by researchers that historically, young people are disproportionately disadvantaged in many ways during economic downturns.

Those in the 16-24 age group could easily be non-beneficiary of social security schemes, as many may not be eligible for unemployment benefits and severance payments.

In a time of global recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is required that trade unions play an active role in safeguarding, protecting and representing the interest of workers, in ensuring that their rights and entitlements are not trampled, and that their general welfare is addressed.

In these times of crisis, it is an uphill task for trade unions in the organising and recruiting of young workers. It is the historically held view that in normal times, trade unions are not attractive to younger and informal workers.

As a matter of fact, trade unions since the 1970’s have experienced difficulties in recruiting younger members and even maintaining old ones.

This is borne out by the fact that in the United States of America union membership has dropped from about 25 per cent of the workforce in 1970 to that of 10 percent at present. The fact remains that even back in the 1970’s trade union density was low.

As young workers today find themselves in a changing labour market and are required to struggle to protect and preserve workers’ rights, human rights, conditions of services and to promote the decent work agenda, it is important now more than ever, that they understand the importance of collective action and unionisation.

Dennis De Peiza is a Labour & Employee Relations Consultantat Regional Management Services Inc. website: www.regionalmanagement services.com