The growth of the economy last year has benefited the employment formal by increasing real wages; However, its impact on the employment situation of young people has been very limited.
According to the INEI, youth employment, which includes people between 14 and 24 years old, decreased by 2.1% for the fourth consecutive year. Thus, according to calculations by the Peruvian Institute of Economics (IPE), there are currently 370,000 fewer young people with jobs than before the pandemic.
There are several factors associated with this situation, which require the implementation of public policies that encourage employment demand for this age group. According to Paola Herrera, senior economist at IPE, one of them is that economic growth has been concentrated in higher-skilled workers, in terms of educational level and experience.
Disagreement
For the specialist, there is a disagreement between the skills demanded by the labor market and those possessed by young people who have gone out to look for work in recent years.
Among the causes of this gap are both the interruptions of the educational period and the postponement of higher studies as a result of the pandemic.
“During the pandemic and in recent years of economic crisis, those who have been most affected have been households, especially young people who live in more vulnerable homes with fewer resources,” commented the expert.
Another critical factor highlighted by Herrera is the lack of alignment between the skills with which young people enter the labor market and those demanded by companies.
Likewise, he added that an important part of unemployed young people are women, many of whom have chosen to stop looking for work and dedicate themselves to activities within the home due to the lack of job opportunities.
Herrera maintained that public policies are required that allow “leveling the playing field” for young people in the face of the demands of the labor market.
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
