It is generally recognised that with the growth of technology, particularly information and communications technology (ICT), youth employment all over the world is increasingly becoming conditional to the fast emerging needs of diverse skills in workplaces. There is thus a pressing need to equip young job-seekers for the market-driven requirements. Countries across the world are facing this challenge as the youths should not only be guided to prepare themselves accordingly, but facilities should also to be created by the governments to that end.
While this is an inescapable reality for all countries, the crux of the issue is: how far young people are able to embrace this reality. A report prepared by the UNICEF in collaboration with Generation Unlimited and PwC, released recently, says young people across the world aren't able to identify or acquire the skills needed for today's job market, contributing to global skills gap and exacerbating youth unemployment. It says young people are unable to identify which skills they need for future employment opportunities. They are also unable to access relevant skills training, and employers lack a standard way to verify the skills job-seekers claim to have. The report notes that there is a disconnect between requirements and education and training systems. "A global skills gap, economic decline and an employment market that requires more complex and diverse skills than ever before have contributed to a 12 per cent drop in youth employment over the past two decades. Governments and businesses must come together to give today's young people -- future earners and employees -- the skills and opportunities they need to access meaningful employment and thrive in today's job market," said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director in connection with the publication of the report.
Young people looking for jobs are perhaps more vulnerable today than ever before. The compounding threats of deepening inequalities, lack of opportunities, and Covid-19 disruptions are feared to have prolonged consequences for youths globally.
The report provides four steps that businesses and government leaders could take to address the skills gap and youth unemployment:
⦿ Create a skill mapping system to define skills, categories and ways to measure competence. The system should be scalable and adaptable for local and national applications. A skilling tracker is key to identifying the gap and making the case for educational and training opportunities.
⦿ Use corporate training to support a national skills-building engine. By pairing elements from corporate training programmes with a government-led national policy framework, stakeholders can help establish a national skills development programme that is high-quality, scalable, and cost-efficient.
⦿ Build a national digital skills verification trust. Youth should be able to register and store skills' development credentials easily and securely. Stakeholders can help by developing a central blockchain repository for tracking acquisition.
⦿ Develop regional and national skills forums to improve information sharing among key stakeholders including employers, educators, governments, associations and youth.
The report notes that addressing the skills gap requires a 'whole of society'. Partnerships between government, business, multilaterals, and young people themselves are central to succeeding in the task.
In this connection, experts have been stressing the need for aligning academic learning with industry or workplace requirements at various levels. This, observers hold, is not only required for up-end, white collar jobs where skills adaptation is integral to job related activities, but for semi-skilled employments also.
Introduction of a digitised system in running businesses and keeping the whole chain of innovation, production and marketing at a well-functioning level call for a major shift in employment landscape. The digital drive is rapidly transforming the employment scenario across industries, including financial services, health, entertainment, transportation and of course, information and communication technologies. Millions of jobs requiring advanced digital skills will be created in the coming decade, experts predict; but many countries are projecting a shortfall of skilled workers to fill these jobs. While young people are often considered "digital natives", the reality is that majority of them do not possess job-relevant digital skills. This is more a case for poor and developing countries. For decades these countries heavily relied on unskilled or at best semi-skilled workforce at home as well as for jobs overseas. Bangladesh is no exception.
This and other related issues were highlighted at a two-day event titled Movers' Summit in the capital organised jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Earth Foundation. According to the organisers, the Movers' Programme is a market-driven skill development initiative that intends to eradicate youth unemployment by developing advanced skills among young people and connecting them to income opportunities. While flagging the need for achieving targeted skills for employment of educated youths as well as drawing a roadmap for them, speakers at the event emphasised the importance of innovation and digital technologies to cope with the changing scenario of job market at home and abroad.
The task is huge, if not daunting, and progressing in the right direction is all that would matter in the long run.
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