Youth unemployment
THE number of youths entering the workforce has been significantly higher than the number of workers retiring in the Pacific region.
According to Professor Satish Chand of Finance School of Business University of New South Wales Canberra more than half the population in the region was under 20 years of age.
“So we have this massive influx of young people coming into the workforce and we have got very few people who are retiring, much fewer than the number of people coming in.
“If the number of people coming into the workforce was much larger than the number of people exiting the workforce because they are retiring or they are dead then you have this bugle in the middle that can produce a lot of output.
“That’s the demographic dividend so that is the additional number of workers entering the workforce.”
He added the challenge for policymakers was to harness this dividend and if these youths entering the workforce were being unemployed then it was deemed as a wasted resource.
“What I have been arguing for in all of my research is that we need to be thinking strategically in employing these youths who are entering the workforce.
“The seasonal worker program is the best way to do that.”
He said the seasonal work program was great because it fulfilled the demands for work by the people who are unemployed now.
“I don’t think we want to bank on that forever because yes they earn $30 an hour which was money but if you are a skilled worker you can earn a lot more than an hour.
“That’s the minimum that you are going to earn.
“I think the challenge is for our young guys to upskill them so that they could earn even more and most importantly your brain drain so that they can come back and contribute to Fiji,” he said.
He said there was also a need to change these youths into skilled workers where their skills were recognised globally and not only in the region.
“Now compare us with countries like Japan or South Korea, Australia to some extent where the number of people retiring is more than the number of people entering the workforce.”