The Struggles of the Young Workforce

The recent global pandemic has caused immense economical damage. This can be perceived through the lens of the unemployment rate. Even though it begins to return to normality in México, there is a specific group that was particularly affected and doesn’t seem to be able to escape the struggles: young adult labor force.

Youth employment, categorized as those who recently graduated college or are in their first years of formal work, have been more affected than any other social group according to the International Labor Organization. The unemployment rate for this group of the population remains above what was observed before the health emergency and its recovery has not only been slower than that of other segments of society, but it also runs the risk of leading more men and women into a spiral of informality and low employment wages. This young population is being forced to not work or study, giving rise to the highest levels of this category in the last 15 years according to the ILO.

Within the framework of the International Youth Day that is commemorated on August 12 of each year, the ILO presented the report “Global Youth Employment Trends 2022”, in which it warns that unemployment among this line of the population at a global level, which covers economically active people between 15 and 24 years of age is still above of what was observed before the Covid-19 pandemic. It is estimated that the unemployment rate among young people will be 14.9%, higher than the level of 13.5% recorded for 2019, before the health emergency. This implies that there are currently 6 million more unemployed young people than before the pandemic, for a total of 73 million people.

In the case of Mexico, data from the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE) highlights that during the first quarter of the year there were 8.9 million young people in some type of job, a figure 2.3% lower than that reported at the end of 2019, which brings a total of 205,649 young people less.

“Young people who lose their jobs or don't get one are especially vulnerable to 'scarring', the phenomenon whereby their future labor market outcomes are worse than those of their peers, even when macroeconomic conditions improve again. They may end up taking a job for which they are overqualified, risking being trapped in a career path that involves informality and low wages,” the ILO warned.