Some notes from a conference I’ve recently attended
Last Sunday and Monday I was at a conference, organised by the Youth Media Network Association. Around 70 young journalists were invited to attend. The group was a mix of east and west — there were people from Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Portugal, France, Malta, Hungary, Romania and Armenia.
The topic of discussion was “The role of the media in the fight against youth unemployment”.
The gathering was in the city of Varna, which in the summer becomes one of the favourite seaside destinations for many Bulgarians.
The itinerary called for an early start, so we got up in the morning and traveled to the town hall in Varna.
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We had a little time to prepare and for registration.
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After the greeting speeches of several officials on the side of the European Youth Press and the local authorities, we heard a couple of traditional Bulgarian songs.
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Then the official part was over and it was time for the participants to present some data about youth unemployment in their countries. We learned about the unemployment issues in twelve countries. I will try to summarize the things I’ve heard below, including the data from the presentations as well as the solutions to the unemployment problems suggested by the participants:
Poland:
There were two girls from Poland. They said many in their country think young people are not active enough and that’s why it’s difficult for them to find a job. The girls, however, disagreed, saying not all Polish youths are lazy but the most active ones emigrate. Not only the people remaining in Poland are not active, but they also are often not qualified to take the jobs which are offered on the market. The presenters also said there is not enough work for all youths graduating from schools and universities every year.
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Romania:
The Romanian journalist blamed the recession for most of the unemployment issues in the country. Many small and medium-sized companies have gotten into trouble due to the crisis and cut jobs on a large scale. Another problem besides the crisis is the fact that employers in Romania prefer to hire people with working experience which creates a problem for the journalists just coming out of school. There are not much opportunities for young people to get some work experience before they graduate. Furthermore, a large part of the offered jobs on the market are for low-educated workers. As many as 389 open high education jobs stand against 11,000 open jobs for low-educated people. The problem with emigration came up here too.
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Bulgaria:
The Bulgarian presenters named the lack of qualification as a on of the main problems on the local labour market. The education was dubbed inadequate for the market needs. Young people in Bulgaria rarely use career programmes or register with the Labour Agency when they are looking for a job. They go directly to an employer. The big number of youths leaving the country is also troubling, the presenters said.
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Armenia:
The Armenian presenter pinpointed several problems on the labour market in the country: The labour supply does not meet the demand, there is lack of professional education, there are not enough part-time jobs which could remedy at least part of the problem, the high level of emigration. Many of the young people looking for a job are not experienced and with the crisis shrinking the number of offered jobs they are the first to suffer.
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Portugal:
The Portuguese girls said the country is battling tough economic problems. Many people are affected by long-term unemployment. As much as 51% of the educated people aged between 24 and 35 have been unemployed for more than a year. There is a minimum wage in Portugal, of 400 euro, which is not enough to live on. The presenters said that many people over 30 years of age in Portugal are currently trying to catch up with their education and are going to high school and even to university. For my surprise, the Portuguese girls named emigration as a problem as well.
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Hungary:
The Hungarian presenter started off with some political facts, saying an interim government a few years back impacted growth in the country. University degrees, believe it or not, are not seen as a pro. According to the presenter, the Hungarian Labour Agency does not know how to deal with university diplomas and is not very efficient in finding them a job. She said something bizarre — people often hide their diplomas when they apply for a job. She also said that the labour market now needs engineers and financial experts while other graduates have it hard to find employment.
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Turkey:
The Turkish guy presented some basic facts about his country before starting talking about the problems of the local labour market. To be frank after I saw the statistics about employed men against employed women in Turkey I could not think about anything else. It was just shocking — around 25% employed women against some 52% employed men. What do women in Turkey do?!
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Italy:
The Italian presentation, I think was one of the most through ones. I’ve made several photos with the shown data and the offered solutions for unemployment in the country. As many as 21% of the young people aged between 15 and 24 cannot find employment in Italy. Many emigrate and work abroad.
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France:
The guys presenting for France were very passionate about the problems of youths in their country. They seemed to have a pretty strong opinion about their government as well, calling for more help and understanding for the 25% unemployed 15-to-24-year-olds in France. Both guys supported the idea of having paid internships for young journalists.
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Germany:
The situation in Germany is considerably more stable then in other countries. The presenter said the unemployed youths were 9.2% in 2009. According to him, one of the main problems is the lack of qualified personnel in some industries and the surplus of highly-educated people in other. The needs on the market are not met. There is excess of qualified workers for example in the communications sector, he said. The economic crisis also hit young people in Germany, as they are first to be laid off. The presenter spoke of unpaid internships as exploitation of young journalists.
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Switzerland:
I Switzerland, as the presenters said, unemployment has been an issue only for the last 15 years. The unemployment among non-Swiss citizens is higher than among native Swiss people. The figures speak for themselves — The rate of jobless Swiss aged between 20 and 25 years stands at 4.1%, while that of jobless immigrants is 20%. According to the presenters, however, one cannot rely entirely on the data of the Labour Agency. Many young people do not register as unemployed because their parents pay for them. As for the situation in the Swiss media industry — it is battling the same problems as in other countries, the second-largest newspaper Tages Anzeiger laid off many of its staff and other media are also struggling. One of the presenters said he pays to a radio station in order to work there. There are two free newspapers, Blick and Zwanzig Minuten, but the presenters said those papers lack quality and are more yellow press.
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The Netherlands:
In the Netherlands, the lady presenter said, there are fewer problems with unemployment. Things are better for young people as well, because there is a youth minimum wage. The presenter also said that the Netherlands have an advantage to other countries, because before people go to strike they first talk. Unemployment is relatively low, higher among immigrants, especially from Morocco. The most troubling statistics I heard was that one-third of the unemployed in the Netherlands have no income at all.
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After the presentations, the participants formed three groups to discuss and decide what solutions to propose. On the second day they told us what they’ve come up with.
France said there should be a liberalisation on the market allowing more private companies operate and thus giving more chances to young people. Immigrants should be integrated and have equal rights to get a job. All internships should be paid.
Germany said people should see what the market needs and then chose what to study. The problem with the immigrants should be solved by integrating them. Internships should be paid. The country needs more juvenile education programmes. Young people should get more information about the state of the labour market.
Switzerland said people should not be so picky when looking for a job. Also there should not be a segregation between native Swiss and non-Swiss citizens. As a solution to the segregation problem Switzerland proposed the introduction of no-name, no-photo CVs.
Hungary said the first step to improvement would be the change of values in society. People holding a university/college degree are considered valuable, therefore a lot of student enroll to universities though the labour market doesn’t need that many highly educated people. There should be a change in education as well — currently there is too much theory and not enough practice. Young people do not receive any real preparation for work. (quote Hajnalka Gyori who represented Hungary at the conference and gave the presentation)
Romania seconded Hungary, saying the education is too theoretical and there’s lack of practice. The Romanian girls went further and suggested more action on the students’ part. They said young people should seek more extra-curricular activities, as to be prepared for a future job.
Turkey also commented that the gap between university and the labour market should be closed and said the role of the government is crucial for closing that gap.
Bulgaria also complained of the educational system, which should be revamped in order to match the needs on the market. The young Bulgarians need more practice and extra-curricular training. Also the integration of minorities should be brought forward, as to give those people opportunities to join the country’s workforce.
Portugal underlined the importance of enlarging the number of well-educated people in the country and called for more business opportunities in the private sector.
The Netherlands criticised the import of talent from abroad. Employers should first look at home and then explore options abroad. Having said that the Dutch lady also said the country should do more for integrating immigrants.
Poland said the problem with many people leaving the country should be dealt with. There should be more efforts to raise the qualification of people who remain in Poland.
Austria and Belgium, which did not make a presentation on the previous day, also joined the discussion with proposals.
The Austrians said all should work on closing the gap between low and high education. They also had a very good idea, saying the EU should provide mobility for highly educated people and thus allow them to easily move and work in different countries in the union.
Belgium called for more practical training for young people, in order to ease their transition from the university to work. Students should get more information about the labour market. The language problem in the country should be dealt with and not solved by importing personnel from abroad.
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All photos from the conference:
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| Youth Journalism Conference |
