Youth unemployment is at the center of interest of European Union (EU) and European Commission (EC). There is a good reason for that. Did you know that around 5.5 million young people are unemployed in European Union? Imagine that in a group of 5 of your friends who are under 25 one of them (maybe even you) is unemployed even though he or she is able to work. Youth unemployment in 2013 in EU on average was 23.3%. Situation in Lithuania was a bit better as it was 21.6%, however these numbers should be much lower.
What is more, another problem is that young people do not have proper education in order to fill available positions. This is a result of low geographical mobility, not equal monthly payments and lack of educational training/ consulting. According to Eurostat until 2020 there should be 73 mln. workplaces due to retirement, however it is still not clear if there will be enough people with proper education and skills to fill these places.
In order to tackle this problem various policies and programs are being implemented. One of them is “Youth on the move” which aim is to improve youth education and employability, and decrease of youth unemployment. With their help young people are able to find various study programs, learning projects and training projects or work proposals in whole Europe. In addition, one of the ways to deal with problems is to increase co-operation among education institutions and business in order for students to get professional experience and ability to apply their knowledge in practice. There is already working “Leonardo Da Vinci” programs for mobility among European countries. Furthermore, European Commission together with European Parliament is organizing “Your first EURES job” program, which enables youth to find a job not only in their home country but elsewhere abroad. Unfortunately this is not enough, only closer co-operation among businesses and educational institutions might have influence in better youth possibilities in job market.
However, the problem is that some young people lack of motivation, they are afraid to step out of their comfort zone and don’t want to use the possibilities around them. In order to tackle this problem certain actions might be done: in school kids might have a subject where they would be taught about voluntary work, mobility programs or various EU initiatives; meetings with people who have already enjoyed the possibilities of these initiatives and are able to tell successful and inspiring stories. What is more, more innovative companies are emerging in Lithuania. A lot of non-profit organizations are increasing awareness about good practice, some examples: VšĮ Inovacijų biuras, VšĮ Versli Lietuva, Education Exchanges Support Foundation and of course you can always find some information in web pages or information desks of your institution, university or school. The easiest and the fastest way is just to go on-line and type in what you are looking for, what information you need and then start your adventures.
