This week at Davos they called youth unemployment a “cancer in society”. Globally, young people are bearing the brunt of the unemployment problem. Spain, for example, has the highest rate in Europe, at 22%, while its youth unemployment stands at 50%.
Meanwhile, many companies are clear about the skills they identify as being in greatest demand. Hays, who operate in 31 countries, say their clients tell them “candidates do not have a sufficient standard of soft skills.”
There are a multitude of reasons for youth unemployment, but lack of soft skills is a barrier that’s cited again and again by those who employ.
Yet still education policy hasn’t got it, and is rooted in 20th century thinking.
Meanwhile, those at Davos warn of “not a crisis, but a disaster.”
[…] While research and employers keep saying the same thing, policy makers don’t appear to hear — still. […]