Young People, Employment and Work Psychology

Interventions and Solutions

Angela Carter

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781317384229
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Psicología
• Categoría: Historia y teoría en psicología

Youth unemployment and underemployment is a serious issue in most developed countries in the world. Having few young people in the workplace has serious and lasting consequences for generations of young people, their families, businesses and society as a whole. Dr Carter explores these important issues from multiple (and international) perspectives, offering research evidence and guiding frameworks from social and work psychology, to get more young people into good work.

Young People, Employment and Work Psychology brings together educators, researchers, occupational psychologists, and government agencies responding to young people struggling to gain and sustain employment. Theoretically based and evidence-driven, this book explores the consequences of unemployment, suggests ways in which businesses can enable young people's first steps into employment and gives practical advice to young people and employers to prepare for and gain entry-level roles and develop more diverse workplaces. From the reasons why organizations are often reluctant to employ young people, to issues of motivation and confidence which often affect young people's perspective in looking for work, the book covers several interventions within both the public and private sector.

This book is an invaluable resource for employers, policy makers and professionals working with young people, as well as students and researchers in work and organizational psychology, HRM, business management and social policy.

1 Youth employment

Unpacking different perspectives

Angela J Carter

Issues facing young people leaving education

As we begin our enquiry there are 625,000 young people (aged between 16 and 24 years) unemployed (ONS December, 2015) and 848,000 not in education, employment or training (NEET) (ONS November, 2015). While this figure has dropped from nearly one million young people in 2012 (IPPR, 2014), youth unemployment in the UK remains at an alarmingly high rate (3.74 times that of the adult population (Eurostat, 2013)), almost double that of most of our European neighbours. A recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (George, Metcalf, Tufekci & Wilkinson, 2015) describes young people under the age of 25 years having the greatest disadvantage in the labour market, with the current generation of job seekers being more affected by unemployment than the previous generation, despite overall employment having risen.

The UK is not alone with this issue. Youth unemployment (aged 18–25 years) is a major issue in European countries (Eurostat, 2013), the United States of America (Symonds, Schwartz & Ferguson, 2011) and other developed countries (Chand & Tung, 2014). Unemployment rates differ between countries, with almost half of the under 25 year olds in Greece, Spain and Croatia being unemployed (IIEA, 2014) in comparison with 14% in the UK, 11% across the European Union (Eurostat, 2013), 7.2% in the USA and 4.9% in Japan (Akkermans, Nykänen & Vuori, 2015).

However, young people in the UK are exceptional within the EU, with higher percentages entering the labour market aged 16 years and fewer participating in post-compulsory education (OECD, 1998, cited in Canny, 2001). However, while trends in youth employment in Europe seem to be associated with the most recent economic crisis, employment of young people in the UK is decreasing (George et al., 2015, p. 17) and has been declining for 15 years (Low Pay Commission, 2015; SKOPE, 2012) or even longer (Canny, 2001; Manpower Services Commission, 1978). In the previous recession it was noted that school leavers were experiencing greater difficultly in gaining employment than other job seekers (Manpower Services Commission, 1978), particularly if they had few or no qualifications. This suggests young people in the UK have been disadvantaged in the job market for many years before our current focus and little has been done to address the lack of job opportunities available for young people.

With so many young people seeking work it is perverse to hear recruiters and managers lamenting the poor quality of applicants they receive for new and existing roles. But, with fewer than one in four organizations in the UK actually employing those under 24 years of age (SKOPE, 2012) and as few as 6% of organizations employing school leavers of 16 years (UKCES, 2011), few employers have experience of working with young people transitioning from education. Further, a dichotomy exists with employers reporting ageing workforces (CIPD, 2015; UKCES, 2011, 2012) and being concerned about future skills shortages. So why are the majority of UK employers not recruiting young people and investing in their skills development?

The exclusion of young people from the workplace affects everyone in our society. Young people themselves are going to extraordinary lengths to be seen as credible employees. However, with their efforts being rarely acknowledged by employers, young people’s enthusiasm for work decreases along with their self-esteem and confidence. Parents are only too aware of these issues and many families are struggling to support young people, both psychologically and financially, through extended adolescence, with young people often not finding independence until their late 20s or 30s. Among these problems are poor mental health, alcohol and drug abuse, affecting both young people and their family’s futures. Further, these issues cost local and national government millions of pounds each year to provide health and welfare support. Society notices the impact of young people’s behaviour, frustrated by their lack of independence and denying them a true sense of identity (Brown, 2011). Young people can be drawn into antisocial and criminal behaviour, sometimes encouraged by their peers who are similarly disaffected.

Models of education differ widely, across countries and between regions within countries, particularly in relation to the emphasis placed on higher or vocational education. However, in the 21st century most educational providers have increased their efforts to assist school, college and university leavers with employability advice, aided by a host of publications (e.g., Cottrell, 2015) offering support and advice. The UK Government strives for solutions to youth unemployment favouring developing and supporting apprenticeship schemes. Unfortunately, many employers and members of the public misinterpret these schemes as narrowly focussed on science subjects (such as engineering) rather than the broad array of possible apprenticeships. But, despite these efforts, young people are still struggling to find employment that offers them a decent wage and stimulating work.

Youth employment is a sensitive political issue and the school leaving age in the UK was increased to 18 years in 2016. Compared with other European countries the UK has appeared slow to support the Youth Guarantee scheme (European Commission: Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion, 2013) taken on by most other European Union (EU) countries. However, these facts, along with few job opportunities available to young people, are rarely discussed by the general public or employing organizations. Yet, youth unemployment is a real problem for the future of the UK economy. The Working Futures projects (e.g., Wilson, Beaven, May-Gillings, Hay & Stevens, 2014) examine employment trends every ten years (most recently from 2012 to 2022) to understand industry demands and enable planning for skills and qualifications for the future. Employment in the highest status occupations (scientists, research and development managers, Higher Education teaching professionals and associate professionals) is projected to increase by 1.8 million new jobs by 2022. Therefore, it is critical that young people have early access to these occupations in order to build their skills and experience to progress in order to sustain the UK economy.

In summary, the lack of youth employment opportunities is a major social problem of our time and has been a growing issue for several decades. Faced with high fees for education, young people are fast becoming dissatisfied and frustrated, feeling forgotten by our society (cf, Howker & Malik, 2010). Clearly this a complex issue and this chapter will explore some of the many factors contributing to the UK’s low rates of youth employment and will suggest a model to enable research and develop solutions.

Contemporary nature of work

If you were born before the 1970s you probably walked into a paid job as soon as you left education and those with reasonable school-leaving qualifications often chose between several work roles. So, what has happened in the 21st century to make the situation so different for young people today? To answer this question, we need to explore the changing nature of employment.

Social arrangements for work have changed significantly in the last 50 years (Savickas et al., 2009). The industrialization of the 20th century led to growth in jobs and stable working conditions. The growing complexity of work required skilled and experienced workers and supervisory (or senior) roles became available, enabling workers’ opportunities to transition upwards through organizational tiers. The familiar phrase ‘moving up the ladder’ was an integral part of career development and it was others’ upward progression that generated the entry-level roles for young people to begin their experience of work. Sadly, this is no longer the description of organizational life in the 21st century.

More recent working arrangements have had to adapt to a labour market that is reducing in size due to several economic recessions in the last 50 years. To remain competitive organizations have had to become smaller, reducing the number of hierarchical levels to lower the cost of human resources. Companies previously enjoying dominance in local marketplaces have been undercut by organizations with lower costs in an increasingly global marketplace. Supported by developments in travel and communication these changes have happened quickly, resulting in a less stable and quickly changing job market that is open to a wider range of job applicants than before. Full-time job roles have been lost or reduced to part-time or contract working, and upwards movement in organizations has become rarer. Workers have had to respond to these changes by adapting to different ways of working, such as home or tele-working, and by taking on a number of part-time roles or self-employment to generate sufficient income. Thus, there is little room in the labour market for the young person seeking their first job.

Crowded market place for work

One of the features of the contemporary workplace is that many different people are looking for work. The declining manufacturing industry in the UK has meant the loss of many jobs, including entry-level roles for young men. The removal of these full-time roles means people are taking lower-paid, part-time, or self-employed work to compensate for their loss in income. Further, there are increasingly larger numbers of women working in full-time roles and staying in those roles as they are taking fewer breaks to bring up children or care for older family members.

Work is changing, with fewer entry or casual roles being available. For example, intensification of production, particularly in the food sector, has seen causal farm workers’ jobs being undertaken by gangs of workers doing 14-hour shifts, seven days a week. Globalization has changed the nature of work with many lower-paid or entry-level roles being offshored to other countries at lower costs to the employer. In the UK, as in other European countries, there are many non-UK nationals and migrant workers seeking employment and prepared to take on low-paid work.

Adapting to these changes are an increasing number of self-employed workers (up to 28% of the working population, (ONS, 2015, January)). However, while a small proportion of professional workers earn a good wage from their endeavours, many self-employed people are trapped in low-paid work with minimal contracts (e.g., zero-hours). Self-employed workers in these conditions are often underemployed, seeking better quality work or extra hours to improve their incomes. Among this group are retired people who find their pension arrangements insufficient to maintain themselves without work and so they too are looking for work. The final group of workers are students, working as well as taking full- or part-time education programmes, seeking part-time roles (often in retail or service sectors) to supplement the cost of their education.

Consider the crowded job market as a mosaic of potential workers all willing to take on the entry-level roles previously available to young people. Those aged between 25 and 49 years typically have better labour market outcomes (George et al., 2015), with young people having the greatest challenges both in entering and in progressing within the labour market. Those leaving full-time education with few or no qualifications are at the greatest risk of ‘being left behind’ (George et al., 2015, p. 7).

A major difference between job seekers is workplace experience, with younger applicants having little actual work experience. Employers, being mindful of bottom-line costs of goods and services, feel more confident employing experienced workers who they feel are able to transfer their knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) directly to a new job role without the expense of training. As one London business owner told me, “There is no business case to employ young people; they will just cost me money”.

So where do young people find work? Labour market surveys tell us young people take on part-time work, temporary contracts or low-paid employment (in trade, accommodation and transport sectors), and work in low-status occupations (caring, leisure, sales, customer service, process, plant and machine operatives). Therefore, it is important to differentiate between the availability of work (or job quantity, upon which most unemployment statistics are based) and job quality (work that engages the young person’s KSAs). Underemployment (wanting to do more hours of work) is common for young people and is an increasing issue for this age group (15% of Generation Y report underemployment compared with 12% of the older Generation X, (George et al., 2015, pp. 22–23)). These trends paint a bleak picture for young job seekers and highlight significant changes that will need to be made to enable young people to gain the experience to fill the projected increase in high-status occupations of 2022.

Developing work identity

Much of our personal identity is gained from the work we do, giving us a place in society. When asked “what do you do?” giving our job title indicates our KSAs, values and our incomes. However, with less stable working conditions in the 21st century, a growing number of people have multiple jobs, making the answer to “what do you do?” much less clear. Multifaceted working patterns are less about what you do and more about how you use work opportunities and your influence. So how can young people develop their personal identity during the lo...

Índice

• Cover Page
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Author Biographies
• Glossary of Terms
• Preface
• 1 Youth Employment: Unpacking Different Perspectives
• 2 Youth Unemployment and Underemployment: A Global Problem of Our Time
• 3 The Voice of Young People: Finding the Right Fit
• 4 Unemployment at a Young Age: A Work Psychological Analysis of its Nature, Consequences and Possible Remedies
• 5 It’s a Hard Knock Life: Youth Unemployment in London
• 6 Building Individual Futures: Education to Prepare People for Work
• 7 Increasing Youth Employment Benefits a Community
• 8 Facilitating Job Search and Employment Opportunities for Young People
• 9 Focussing on Young People’s Future Work
• Index