Youth Unemployment in the Mideast

The numbers are striking: almost 28 percent of youth in the region are unemployed, according to the International Labor Organization. In addition, more than 50 percent of the Arab world is under 25 years old. Youth unemployment may be the biggest challenge facing the region, due to a demographic “youth bulge.”

Surprisingly, a college education makes it harder to find work, as young people with more years of education are more likely to face a period of unemployment. “They want jobs that match up to their skill set, where it is hardest to find jobs,” said Masood Ahmed, Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department.

Experts link a lack of opportunity to instability and social unrest. “The cause of the Arab Spring was unemployment, combined with corruption and demands for good governance,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, UN Special Envoy on Youth.

Youth require better prospects. The task is daunting: The Arab world must create 80 million jobs by 2020, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. How can it be done? “Government is responsible for creating the conditions that encourage the employment of its citizens. Government can itself employ young people, but only so many. The private sector is also the essential employer in any civilized community,” said Sheikh Nahayan, UAE Minister of Youth, Culture and Community Development.

The picture appears dire, but some argue there is unprecedented opportunity, especially in the digital sector. The Middle East is at a turning point, and there is a hopeful, underreported revolution taking root, said Christopher Schroeder, author of the book Startup Rising: The Entrepreneurial Revolution Remaking the Middle East. “The youth bulge is the most wired in their history. They are self-teaching, collaborating, and solving local problems and creating their own enterprises and jobs bottom up.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Youth Unemployment in the Mideast: Is Entrepreneurship the Answer? | Anna Shen.

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