Nowadays, young people in Latin America find it increasingly difficult to enter the labor market. According to a survey published by Junior Achievement Americas and ManpowerGroup, 9 out of 10 young people between 18 and 29 years old cannot easily access their first job.
The study was carried out in 14 countries in the region and had the participation of more than 3,000 people. El Salvador is at the top of the ranking with 91% and Dominican Republic is presented as the best positioned in the regionwith 60%.
Our country is in the middle of the rankingwith 79% of young people stating that they have great challenges when it comes to finding a job.
Regarding the types of employment in question, roles in the administrative, commercial, human resources, customer service, finance, marketing and computer technology areas stand out.
The most striking thing about the research was that More than 80% of those surveyed claimed to have a bachelor’s degree or technical degree (in progress or completed).
One of the first conclusions that emerge is that there is a lethal combination between low supply and high demand, suggesting that It is no longer enough to just study to enter the market and that neither the private sector nor universities are exempt from what is happening.
How to close the gap between young people and their first job
The inevitable question is how we can collaborate to close the gap between students and the job market.
That was the dilemma that the National University of La Matanza (UNLAM) encountered back in 2017. At the same time, another problem that it identified was that of achieving Employment was such a priority for young people that many ended up abandoning their studies. due to schedule incompatibility.
Gabriel E Blanco, Dean of the Department of Engineering and Technological Research of The university, together with the support of the Chamber of the Argentine Software Industry (CESSI), launched an internship program to reverse this situation.
The technological scholarship program promotes youth employment and invites small and medium-sized companies that are based in Argentina to occupy a space within the university, hire students on a part-time basis, train and educate them.
The university currently has hundreds of interns and dozens of companies based there. At the same time, it is interesting how companies founded by entrepreneurs who graduated from the house are prioritized over multinationals.
This program not only generated youth employment, but also managed to lower the university dropout rate by promoting the national industry.
What is the situation in the IT field?
Something very particular happens in the software industry and that is that, unlike other areas, every year around 5,000 technology jobs remain unfilled (as published by CESSI).
In our country there is currently a lack of qualified profiles to fill these roles (there is also the fact that companies with foreign capital hire local talent with attractive salaries, making it very difficult to compete with that).
Programs such as those developed by UNLAM are key to building bridges between universities, the private sector and students.
The purpose is to facilitate the transition between university life and the professional field so that tomorrow young people can more easily enter the market and have all the necessary tools to function satisfactorily.
In turn, These alliances allow universities to update their curricula according to market demands. For example, in the case of UNLAM, computer engineering courses already have subjects in virtual reality, gaming and artificial intelligence.
Internship programs at universities
The concept of developing internships is in line with the results of the survey carried out by Junior Achievement Américas and ManpowerGroup. There it is mentioned that For more than 50% of young people, the main barrier to entering the market is the lack of work experience.
So we find ourselves at the crossroads of young people looking for work, young people who abandon their studies when they find work, and IT companies needing people.
The solution is obvious: We need young people to gain work experience while they are studying their degree. We need to promote paid internship programs and agreements between companies and universities to improve the youth employability rate and increase labor competitiveness.
CEO & Founder of FlyDevs
Source: Ambito
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