Making youth transitions pay: what role for PES?

Wallis GoelenHead of Unit – Employment Services & EURES

Danish Presidency Conference, Horsens, 26-27 April

Issues & challenges

• Youth unemployment is a structural problem• Even in good times rates were high

• Paradoxically: most educated youth generation ever

• Recession hit young workers hardest• men vs women; ethnic minorities; low educated

• Youngsters have little or non existant social security coverage – additional problem in engaging with PES

• Unemployment rate alone understates scale of the problem• low participation rate much more severe

Youth (15-24) participation in work force in EU fell as unemployment increased

Youth transitions: what do we know?

• First transition into labour market hardest yet most critical

• Recession increased transitions out of employment

• Reduced probability of moving out of unemployment and back into employment…resulting in:

• Evidence of youngsters returning to or remaining in education• LTU massively on the rise • Deskilling of youth will hamper economic recovery

Transitions from one year to the next-Mobility in Europe 2010-

Implications for PES

On going modernisation of PES Business Models

IMPROVE OUTREACHCAPACITY

TRANSITIONS BROKER

PARTNERSHIPS

PES actions for enhancing youth employment prospects

Conclusions

• Three fold challenge affecting• Prevention, supply and demand

• Labour market policies must go hand in hand with education and a ‘services first’ philosophy

• Most comprehensive range of EU policy measures and initiatives to date

• Member States and PES must chose tools that suit them best