How Policymakers Can Boost Youth Employment

ManpowerGroup is deeply concerned about the consequences of youth unemployment. The issue intersects our own business operations at three levels: in our efforts to provide recruitment solutions for our employer clients, to find jobs for our applicants, and to build employability and address skills shortages through workforce development initiatives. We believe that new and more aggressive strategies, supported by states but implemented through multi-stakeholder partnerships, are required to empower more young people to succeed in the new economy. Positive interventions should focus on several key areas: - Jobs: ensuring that enough good jobs exist for young people who seek them; - Skills: teaching young people how to identify opportunities, align their interests with market needs, and acquire relevant skills that will let them succeed in sustainable careers; - Experience: overcoming practical barriers to initial workforce entry by young people; and - Impact: identifying interventions that work, and scaling them up so that their impact matches the magnitude of the challenge, while their cost matches available funding.