Trade Union Training on Youth Employment for ICFTU-APRO Youth Committee

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Trade Union Training on Youth Employment for
ICFTU-APRO Youth Committee

• Turin
• 27-31 May, 2005

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Introduction of the ILO report on Youth
Employment Submitted to the 93rd Session of ILC

• Sara Spant
• Associate Expert on Youth Employment
• Youth employment Network (YEN)

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The ILC 2005

• Refine the ILO policy message and technical
  programme to support constituents on youth
  employment.
• Improve technical support.
• Ensure a comprehensive and integrated policy and
  programme to support decent work for youth.

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Background

• In November 2003, the ILO Governing Body
  identified youth employment as a topic for a
  general discussion at the 2005 ILC.
• In preparation for this, the GB approved the
  holding of a Tripartite Meeting, Youth
  Employment The Way Forward in October 2004, to
  discuss national policies and programmes for
  decent work for youth and identify initial areas
  of agreement on the political, social and
  economic dimensions of the issue.

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Background

• To facilitate the discussion at the October
  Tripartite meeting a background paper was
  prepared Starting Right Decent work for young
  people.
• Conclusions of this meeting were adopted to act
  as a framework for a more complete discussion of
  this issue at the International Labour Conference
  in June 2005, where more comprehensive
  conclusions will be decided.

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Background

• The background report drew on extensive research
  on youth employment. It reviewed the current
  debate on youth employment in the context of the
  Decent Work Agenda, the Global Employment Agenda
  (GEA) and the recommendations of the High-level
  Panel of the Youth Employment Network (YEN).

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Background

• In preparation for the 2005 ILC, a Conference
  report, Youth Pathways to Decent Work was
  prepared, building on the background report for
  the October Tripartite Meeting.

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Youth Pathways to decent work

• Provides a global overview of youth employment
  and the socio-economic factors that help or
  hinder young people in getting decent jobs,
  putting forward key issues in the youth
  employment challenge.
• It discusses national level initiatives,
  identifying key lessons in formulating successful
  policies and programmes.
• The report illustrates ILO support to
  constituents, highlighting approaches and tools
  that have been or could be useful to constituents
  and proposing some key messages.

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Key issues identified

• Clear distinction between the youth employment
  challenge and the general employment challenge.
• Youth face greater barriers than adults in
  securing decent employment, more so in some
  regions than others.
• Low labour demand disproportionately affects
  young people, who are more vulnerable to the
  business cycle.

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Key issues identified

• Particular groups of people, such as young women,
  those living in poverty and/or in rural areas,
  youth with disabilities, youth affected by
  HIV/AIDS, indigenous youth, those involved in
  hazardous work, demobilized young soldiers, young
  migrant workers and other socially disadvantaged
  youth are more prone to unemployment and
  underemployment.
• The availability of data on youth unemployment
  and a relative absence of information on the
  nature of the work young people are doing
  (part-time, casual, seasonal, informal work, for
  example) means that policies have neglected
  conditions of work.

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Key issues identified

• Many young people in countries across the world
  often work unacceptably long hours under
  informal, intermittent and insecure work
  arrangements.
• Young people are often working below their
  potential, in part-time, temporary, casual or
  seasonal employment.
• Most of the worlds youth work in the informal
  economy, both in rural and urban areas. They lack
  adequate incomes, social protection, security and
  representation.

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Key issues identified

• The transition gap between completion of
  initial education and training, and entry to
  employment has tended to lengthen,
• The mismatch of their skills with labour market
  requirements.
• Extending employers and workers organizations
  activities to youth in general, and those working
  in the informal economy, more specifically, would
  strengthen the position of young workers.

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The ILO key messages

• For consideration by policy-makers and social
  partners in developing policies for youth
• Strategies for decent employment for youth should
  be based on international labour standards.
• Quantitative and qualitative data on youth
  employment is needed on a national level,
  disaggregated by age and sex, and ethnicity,
  geographic location, residency status, deping on
  country context before designing polices.

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The ILO key messages

• Information on the working conditions, in both
  the formal and informal economy, is necessary for
  the development of youth employment strategies to
  ensure the quality aspect of job creation.
• The involvement of social partners in the design
  and implementation of youth programmes and
  policies is key to their success.

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The ILO key messages

• A coherent, integrated approach to policy
  development, involving different ministries of
  government, the social partners and other
  concerned groups, and especially young people
  themselves, is essential.
• Strategies for youth employment promotion should
  be linked to a macro policy that promotes
  economic growth, through employment-oriented
  development programmes, focussing on labour
  supply and demand, and addressing both quantity
  and quality of employment.

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The ILO key messages

• Social partners should be involved in the design
  of laws and regulations to ensure that employment
  promotion and enterprise development do not
  compromise workers rights.
• Government and social partner can support and
  invest in labour-intensive development projects
  and programmes, enterprise development, social
  enterprises and cooperatives, including the
  encouragement of an entrepreneurial culture, to
  create quality jobs for young people.

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The ILO key messages

• To maximize effectiveness in preparing trainees
  for the labour market
• Skills training needs to meet the needs of the
  labour market, and be broad-based, flexible and
  responsive to changing conditions.
• Training should be continuous and involve
  retraining to enable workers to cope with
  technological and occupational change.
• Training in core work skills and competencies is
  essential to enable young people to cope with
  rapidly changing labour markets.

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The ILO key messages

• Closer links need to be established between
  formal and non-formal education as well as
  between classroom instruction and workplace
  learning.
• Combining experience and vocational training is
  effective, especially placements in private
  sector rather than through temporary placements
  in public sector projects.
• Basic skills training and traditional
  apprenticeships are particularly important in
  developing countries.

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The ILO key messages

• Active labour market programmes are more likely
  to be effective if
• they are well targeted, well designed and
  effectively organized
• they meet specific requirements of the intended
  beneficiaries, based on a careful analysis of the
  local employment situation and participant
  characteristics
• they are sited in enterprises
• they include measures to improve the
  competencies and skills of participants (the
  supply side of labour), the demand side
  (available jobs or work experience) or both the
  supply and demand side in a balanced fashion.

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Points for discussion at ILC

• What are the major disadvantages faced by young
  people in the labour market? What are the
  consequences of their lack of access to decent
  work?
• What are the components of the package of
  policies and programmes that encourage decent
  work for young people?
• What are the respective roles of governments,
  employers' and workers' organizations in
  promoting pathways to decent work for young women
  and men?

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Points for discussion at ILC

• What is required to ensure that International
  Labour Standards address youth employment?
• What should be the priorities for the ILO's
  policy, research, advocacy and technical
  assistance with regard to promoting decent and
  productive work for youth?