Since the financial crisis in 2007-2009, a worrying phenomenon has been observed in Europe. On one hand, EU countries experienced consecutive successes in terms of their educational goals - in 2019, already 81% of working-aged people were high school graduates, and up to 40% of people aged 30-34 had a university degree, which was the highest figure ever (Eurostat, 2021). On the other hand, the
... [Show full abstract] unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds across the EU rose from 16% in 2007 to 16.9% in 2020, and has been hovering around 20% for most of the post-crisis decade (OECD Stat). For many young people, this pattern was at odds with the ethos passed down from older generations – of education and knowledge being the key to their professional successes, which left many of them feeling anxious and uncertain about their future. It is therefore worth considering whether the EU's youth unemployment problems might go deeper than just education-related issues.
Some of the issues covered include the declining value of diplomas, the impact of the global economy and crises on the youth labour market, potential impact of economy 4.0 on the labour market and ways for the young people to increase their competitiveness on the labour market.