Where are the jobs? Youth joblessness and underemployment in Canada
If you're under 30, there's a good chance your parents and teachers told you a college or university education is the ticket to a stable, well-paying, and fulfilling career that can provide you with a decent standard of living. But that seemingly logical advice is starting to become a myth.
Canada's youth unemployment rate has hovered around 14 percent or higher since the 2008-2009 recession, which is double the rate of the general population. Young people who do find jobs are typically underemployed in low-paying and part-time work that isn't related to their education, as most have completed some form of post-secondary schooling but nearly half are employed in retail, service, or clerical jobs that don't require a degree.
This bleak reality is forcing young graduates to accept unpaid internships in order to possibly secure a field-related job, even though these positions don't offer benefits, aren't regulated in most provinces, and carry no guarantee of employment once completed.
The factors causing youth joblessness and underemployment are well known. Under pressure from shareholders to maximize efficiency and produce ever-growing profits, companies are shipping jobs overseas and replacing others with machines. In the post-recession economy employers are opting for older, more experienced workers over investing in training for new hires, and young applicants are competing with workers from their parent's generation who recently lost their job, are delaying retirement, or both. Add to this the lack of cooperation between governments, universities, and employers in creating programs that quickly transition grads from the classroom to the workplace and, well, you get the picture.
Less talked about are the potential consequences of failing to address youth joblessness and underemployment. Persistent underemployment can diminish a graduate's knowledge and skills, lower their current and life-long income, and lead to emotional distress, while long-term joblessness can prevent young people from catching up with older workers' earnings and reduce overall economic productivity.
So what can be done? Modelling college and university programs on Switzerland's Vocational Education and Training (VET) system is worth considering. Under VET, post-secondary schools and private sector companies partner to provide students with theoretical knowledge and hands-on skills in over 200 occupations, which enables graduates to "hit the ground running" in their first job. The system is credited as being a major source of Switzerland's strong economy and global competitiveness, and the main reason why it has the lowest youth unemployment rate in the developed world.
Another solution could lie in expanding funding for existing apprenticeship initiatives – such as the Federal Student Work Experience Program – that subsidize wages for students who work in the summer. According to the Canadian Federation of Students, these initiatives are not receiving the financial support that they need to keep up with student enrollment and demand from employers.
Finally, employers can better inform young job seekers of available careers by taking their job postings beyond internal and website job boards and making them accessible through social media sites and smart phone applications. With Canada's youth unemployment stuck in the double digits, pursuing these and other solutions is bound to be more effective than doing nothing.
