Davos, Switzerland — Jan. 24

ManpowerGroup, a workforce services provider and World Economic Forum (WEF) partner, asserts that coordinated action in four key areas is needed to tackle chronic levels of youth unemployment worldwide, with the topic high on the agenda at the WEF annual meeting.

The actions are: creating jobs and promoting entrepreneurship; helping young people acquire economically relevant skills; assisting youth's workforce entry; and developing national strategies to scale career development programs.

The International Labor Organization projects a global youth unemployment rate of 12.7 percent by 2017. In the eurozone, the youth unemployment rate stands at 24.4 percent, up from 15 percent in March 2008. In Greece alone, 57.6 percent of young people are out of work.

ManpowerGroup's recommendations to better align skills' supply and demand in the labor market include convening employers and educators to create a shared, pragmatic language of skills specifications that is job-relevant and can help coordinate training resources; improve career guidance resources for young people at all stages of the education process; improve access to training that is clearly linked to employment outcomes; and support youth-friendly technology platforms, such as mobile devices, to deliver information and services.

In addition, adopting contingent work models through private employment services plays an important part, according to Manpower, in matching labor supply and demand by increasing opportunities for marginalized groups including youth to participate in the formal labor market and furnishing them with valuable employability skills.

Source: ManpowerGroup