The youth unemployment statistics both in Catalonia and in Spain are still scandalous, with a rate of 20%!, which is almost double the general unemployment rate, around 8% in Catalonia and 13.5% in Spain!
In the FCV, over the last 6 months, as partners of the project ‘Advocacy for Youth Employment’ to exchange of good practices and innovation in youth issues, 4 youth organizations from the 4 countries with the highest youth unemployment rate in Europe (with Greece, North Macedonia and Italy) we have carried out a research, we have consulted a good number of reports, publications, news, and we have collected data published by trade unions, associations and groups in various media, social networks, and conducting interviews, to better understand what is happening, what are the difficulties that young people encounter, either to access a first job, or to have decent working conditions that allow us to be minimally satisfied with our work.
And our conclusion is the following: WE MUST PROMOTE THE HIRING OF YOUNG PEOPLE.
There are many arguments that justify the hiring of young people, from the point of view of those who are in a position to offer a job, but also from the point of view of the country as a whole, so that hiring young people is not only the best strategy for improving results of a company or organization, but it has a very evident positive impact on social, human, economic, cultural, community and environmental development.
Young people between the ages of 16 and 34 make up 22.4% of the population in Catalonia and the population group with the fewest opportunities to work, because they face discrimination in terms of access to employment and working conditions.
This is due to a general distrust of those who can employ, as a result of the predominant adult culture in the world of work, both in the private and public sectors.
This distrust generates obstacles that we consider unfair because, in most cases, they are the expression of prejudice: a young person is judged without having been given the opportunity to work. And it is that there are many young people who have never been able to access a job.
In light of this, we would like to draw your attention to the following facts:
- Young people largely have a set of skills that every company or organization needs to adapt to the current global and digitized context marked by crises: digital, linguistic, communicative, interpersonal, intercultural skills; skills that are necessary to adapt any type of business or productive activity to a scenario as difficult as it is current, highly competitive, volatile, uncertain and marked by the disruptive force of digital technologies.
- Young people are digital natives, they have grown up with technology and therefore have a natural affinity to understand and use it. Various studies show that hiring young people has a positive impact in terms of the adoption and use of new software and digital technologies.
- Young people stand out for their adaptability to complex and unforeseen circumstances, for their resilience, curiosity and ability to learn.
- The current generations of young people have a lot to contribute to their business, company or organization: creativity, capacity for innovation, new energies and perspectives, interest in learning and gaining experiences. Young people are not afraid to innovate, take risks and explore new possibilities. Your enthusiasm is an excellent element for team building, productivity and creating a positive workplace climate.
As a result of the evidence on the added value of hiring young people, the government offers several support measures to companies that hire unemployed young people up to 30 years of age, such as:
- a monthly bonus in the business contribution to the Social Security contribution of €300 for a maximum of 6 months (Youth Guarantee programme).
- a 100% social security bonus for a maximum of 2 years and an additional bonus of between €60 and €80 for worker mentoring (full-time training contract, called ‘alternating training’).
Young people need a job more than anyone and we need society to trust us more than anyone.
OUR CALL TO ACTION IS VERY CLEAR: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A HARD-WORKING AND TRUSTABLE PERSON TO BE PART OF YOUR ORGANIZATION, HIRE A YOUNG PERSON.
We are sure you won’t be disappointed!