By Catherine Wilson
SKOPJE, North Macedonia , Dec 24 2024 – It’s a bright winter day in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia in the southern Balkans. By lunchtime, the cafes are full. The atmosphere is busy and social, and it is not difficult to see why the city, home to one-third of the country’s population of 2 million, is the focus of hope for young jobseekers. But, for many, it is not an easy road.

“It’s very tough to get employment. Young people here are waiting up to 18 months to find their first job,” 28-year-old Aleksandra Filipova told IPS. “But I am hopeful for the future,” she added. Filipova understands the challenges her generation faces and is determined to make hope a reality through her work with the National Youth Council of Macedonia, where she is Program Manager.

Last year, the global youth unemployment rate of 13 percent marked a significant decline in 15 years, reports the International Labour Organization (ILO). But the situation varies widely across regions. Large youth populations, uneven post-COVID-19 economic recovery, the Ukraine war and energy crisis, structural labour market issues, and socio-cultural expectations have contributed to above-average unemployment rates in parts of the Balkans, Middle East, and North Africa (MENA).

Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, is home to one quarter of the country’s population and a focus for young jobseekers. Credit: Catherine Wilson/IPS

The Republic of North Macedonia is a landlocked nation located south of Serbia and north of Greece. It gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 and is planning accession to the European Union (EU). Economic growth has been slow in recent years. But a major obstacle in securing a job, even for the highly educated, is a mismatch between educational qualifications and skills required by employers. It’s a key factor in the youth unemployment rate of 28 percent, more than double the national rate of 13 percent.

“Our education system is based on theoretical knowledge and not on technical and vocational skills. Employers want to employ young people, but they need them to have other skills,” Filipova said. For the private sector, especially small and medium-sized businesses, “soft skills are missing, even just how to write an email or how to talk to people in a business environment. Entrepreneurial skills are needed. There is also a lack of people who speak foreign languages for global businesses,” she pointed out.

The National Youth Council of Macedonia has rolled out a paid internship program, in association with the government’s Youth Guarantee policy, which is generating employment success for the country’s youth. Credit: National Youth Council of Macedonia

The transition from education to work can be a disappointing experience for new jobseekers. And many, up to 45 percent of those employed, are turning to jobs unrelated to their education or informal work, such as market selling and seasonal hospitality work. Young women who face traditional social expectations are also highly represented in informal employment.

Long-term joblessness is a real risk. Last year, more than 73 percent of all unemployed people in the country had been out of work for more than a year, while one in five young people were not in employment or education, reports the ILO.

But, in 2018, the North Macedonian Government launched the Youth Guarantee policy—a pledge to respond to youth challenges. Four years later, aligned with the policy, the youth council launched a paid internship program, now hailed a major success. Today, 2,000 employers participate in offering two-month work placements.

“It works well for them [the employers] because they say that, after two months, they have long-term employees. During the internship, youths have learned the skills needed by the business,” Filipova said. “So they are investing in the long-term future of their business.” And 70 percent of young people who have taken a paid internship are now employed.

North Macedonia was the first Balkan country to implement the Youth Guarantee and demonstrate its success.

“About 60,000 young people have taken part in the Youth Guarantee program in North Macedonia so far. I’d like to point out that since 2019, statistics related to the labour market show significant and major improvement in relation to young people. The youth employment rate has increased by 3.5 percentage points compared to 2018,” North Macedonia’s Minister for Labour and Social Policy, Jagoda Shahpaska, told the media in 2021.

Youth employment is a significant focus of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, and other internationally agreed frameworks emphasize the importance of youth development and engagement, and youth are seen as key to achieving the SDGS. 

One of the challenges youth face in the transition from education to employment is a skills mismatch with what recruiters require. Credit: LOYAC Jordan

Across the Mediterranean in the Levant region, youth face a similar plight in Jordan, where 63 percent of the population of 11 million people are aged under 30 years. The Hashemite Kingdom, which has managed economic stability while hosting more than 3 million refugees fleeing from conflicts in neighbouring Syria and the occupied Palestinian Territories, has a youth unemployment rate of 40 percent. It’s a common challenge across the MENA region, where one in three young people are unemployed and where 33 million new jobs will need to emerge by 2030 to meet the demands of working-age populations, forecasts the United Nations.

Every year, 100,000 young Jordanians, many highly educated, strive to enter the workforce. Economic growth is not generating enough jobs, and even the large public sector is unable to absorb increasing jobseekers.

“Jordan is one of the few Arab countries outside of the Gulf that has continued to provide fairly large numbers of public sector jobs to new jobseekers as part of its social pact, but this is fiscally very costly and distorts labour market incentives,” Dr. Steffen Hertog, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, told IPS.

Amman, Jordan’s capital, a sprawling city on the edge of the Jordan Valley, is the administrative and commercial heartbeat of the country. Here, Ali Haddad, Executive Director of the Jordan Youth Innovation Forum, a national youth development organization, told IPS that many youths have “a strong preference for public sector jobs, as they are seen as more stable,” but growing the private sector was vital.

“Expanding businesses can absorb the increasing numbers of young jobseekers; private industries encourage skills development and innovation; and a robust private sector contributes to GDP growth, benefiting the economy and opening more opportunities for youth,” he said.

However, ensuring people can access opportunities is also essential. Ahmad Asfour, General Manager of LOYAC Jordan, a local social enterprise focused on youth skills development, said there were also rural-urban disparities in the country. “Employment opportunities are concentrated in urban areas, making it difficult for rural youth to access jobs,” while “women often face extra challenges such as societal norms, lack of childcare, and unequal pay.”

The skills mismatch with labour market expectations is a major hurdle too. Youths need communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset with critical thinking, innovation, digital, and business skills, Asfour said. LOYAC has also found success in bridging the gap with a national internship program. “We annually train 1,200 students and match 850 with internships on a national level, providing many with the skills, confidence, and connections necessary to secure employment,” Asfour said.

Empowering the younger generation is part of the Jordan Government’s 10-year development and modernization strategy, announced in 2021. It is committed “to provide a stimulating environment that enables young people to unleash their creative energies and contribute effectively to economic and social development,” Eng. Yazan Al-Shdeifat, Jordan’s Minister for Youth, said in a statement on 24 November.

And there have been entrepreneurial successes, Haddad emphasised, such as Arab Therapy, an online service that offers expert mental health support by Arab-speaking professionals to people worldwide. And Mawdoo3, founded by young Jordanian entrepreneurs, Mohammad Jaber and Rami Al Qawasmi, is now the world’s largest Arabic content platform and, in 2021, was listed by Forbes as one of the most visited websites in the Middle East.

Beyond the unemployment statistics, there are increasing numbers of youth finding employment success through dedicated initiatives in both regions. There is still a long way to go. But growing the successes is crucial for the generation that will determine future sustainable economic and national development in their countries and beyond.

Note: This article is brought to you by IPS Noram in collaboration with INPS Japan and Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.

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