MindBullets 20 Years

NO NEW JOBS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Youth unemployment soars in developed economies despite education

It used to be safe to assume that if you worked hard at university and got a degree, you’d get a good job. Not anymore!

Currently youth unemployment in Europe ranges from 17% in Germany to over 60% in Spain. More than half of US graduates can’t find work to match their qualifications, unless they’re engineers. China’s millions of graduates are ousted by robots as wages climb.

And it’s not just the young wage-earners that are feeling the impact. Sizeable consumer spending occurs in the 18-35 year-old-segment as they buy homes and start families. Without jobs, that consumer market evaporates, leading to more cut-backs. GDP is under pressure from the top and bottom.

Older workers are living longer and can’t afford to retire, and as governments extend the pensionable age to 68 or 70, there’s even less room to maneuver. You can’t simply replace the experienced with the young – it’s not good for business!

Economic growth is unlikely to recover for the next five years, so job creation opportunities are limited. Underemployed graduates and young jobless workers have only one option – to become entrepreneurs.

But can the topsy-turvy economies of today handle so many self-starters? Where will all the funding come from? And can the depressed markets handle all their innovative products and services? The future is so… interesting!

Warning: Hazardous thinking at work

Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. Our Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures, challenge and stimulate strategic thinking. Use these at your own risk. Any reference to actual people, entities or events is entirely allegorical. Copyright Futureworld International Limited. Reproduction or distribution permitted only with recognition of Copyright and the inclusion of this disclaimer.