scholarly journals Labour Market Demands, Employability and Authenticity

Author(s):  
Minna Nikunen

AbstractFinding employment has been a challenge for young adults in recent years. This is not only due to high unemployment rates, but also because entering working life is more complicated than before. It is no longer just a question of credentials and skills. ‘Employability’ depends on investments in personal capacities: labour market demands in recruitment exceed the capacity of employees’ bodies and minds. This article asks what demands for increasing one’s employability young adults (aged 18–30) experience in relation to their education and working life and how they respond to these ideas, especially to the idea of modifying their minds and bodies—habitus—in order to increase their employability. What demands are they complying with or resisting? How and why are they doing so? The article draws on interviews with 40 young Finnish women and men. The data analysis reveals that employability ideals emphasising affective and bodily capacities or dispositions are not shared by everyone. However, modifying one’s attitude or demeanour seems to be less threatening for young adults than does changing one’s appearance or body. Changes to one’s body are associated with rules and codes dictated from above, whereas changing one’s mindset is usually conceived of as self-development; thus, it is not seen as contrary to authenticity. Identification with a line of work is an important factor in accepting demands on one’s body or demeanour. It should be asked if the importance of authenticity for young adults entering working life should be taken into consideration in governmental youth and employment policies.

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ute Bültmann ◽  
Iris Arends ◽  
Karin Veldman ◽  
Christopher B. McLeod ◽  
Sander K.R. van Zon ◽  
...  

BackgroundMany young adults leave the labour market because of mental health problems or never really enter it, through early moves onto disability benefits. Across many countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, between 30% and 50% of all new disability benefit claims are due to mental health problems; among young adults this moves up to 50%–80%.OutlineWe propose a research agenda focused on transitions in building young adults’ mental health and early working life trajectories, considering varying views for subgroups of a society. First, we briefly review five transition characteristics, then we elaborate a research agenda with specific research questions.Research agendaOur research agenda focuses on transitions as processes, in time and place and as sensitive periods, when examining young adults’ mental health and early working life trajectories from a life course perspective. As more and more childhood and adolescent cohorts mature and facilitate research on later life labour market, work and health outcomes, transition research can help guide policy and practice interventions.Future cross-disciplinary researchIn view of the many challenges young adults face when entering the changing world of work and labour markets, future research on transitions in young adults related to their mental health and early working life trajectories will provide ample opportunities for collaborative cross-disciplinary research and stimulate debate on this important challenge.


2021 ◽  
pp. 134-156
Author(s):  
James Heintz ◽  
Karmen Naidoo

South Africa has exhibited sustained high rates of open unemployment since the end of apartheid, when reliable statistical measurements became available. The lack of decent employment opportunities contributes to ongoing social and economic inequalities. This chapter examines the reasons behind the country’s high unemployment rates. After a brief analysis of unemployment trends and patterns, it discusses alternative explanations of South Africa’s employment problems, with a focus on structural causes arising from historical and institutional factors. The chapter also examines how policy choices post-apartheid have affected employment outcomes, including macroeconomic policies, trade policies, and labour market policies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Blinova ◽  
Vladimir Markov ◽  
Viktor Rusanovskiy

The purpose of the study is to conduct a statistical analysis and to perform a quantitative assessment of the degree and the dynamics of the interregional differences in youth unemployment in Russia between 2005 and 2013. We decompose the interregional differentiation into “within-group” and “between-group” differences. We also analyse the dynamics of the within-group and between-group differences and estimate their contribution to changes in the interregional differentiation of youth unemployment. Additionally, we estimate the degree and the dynamics of the interregional differences of the youth labour market in Russia in times of crisis and recovery growth. The results show a reduction in the interregional differences in unemployment rates between 2005 and 2008, while in 2009–2013, the interregional differentiation of the labour market increased. We found that the socio-economic effects of youth unemployment, as well as the behavioural response to economic shocks in the age groups of 15–19 and 20–29 years were significantly different.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Christos Katris

In this paper, the scope is to study whether and how the COVID-19 situation affected the unemployment rate in Greece. To achieve this, a vector autoregression (VAR) model is employed and data analysis is carried out. Another interesting question is whether the situation affected more heavily female and the youth unemployment (under 25 years old) compared to the overall unemployment. To predict the future impact of COVID-19 on these variables, we used the Impulse Response function. Furthermore, there is taking place a comparison of the impact of the pandemic with the other European countries for overall, female, and youth unemployment rates. Finally, the forecasting ability of such a model is compared with ARIMA and ANN univariate models.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 1618-1624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Sanchez-Delgado ◽  
Juan M.A. Alcantara ◽  
Lourdes Ortiz-Alvarez ◽  
Huiwen Xu ◽  
Borja Martinez-Tellez ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-483
Author(s):  
Mirko Savić ◽  
Stojanka Dakić

AbstractIn the last two decades we have been witnessing the decrease of population in many countries of the Danube Region. All demographic indicators are unfavourable. Current demographic situation and labour market in the countries of the Danube Region is presented. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of demographic decline in the countries of the Danube Region on the key labour market variables and to model their behaviour. Also, the purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss the possible consequences of demographic decline and the roles of migration and brain drain in the region. The main conclusion is that drop in the population growth is compensated with migration flows and prolongation of working life when it comes to the active labour force in the Danube Region, although population is still a main source of working force.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document