A growing crisis is unfolding among Millennials worldwide that could someday
have an impact on international business. That is at least according to The
Ground Truth Project that includes 21 fellows reporting from 11 countries.
Global youth unemployment and few opportunities for training new skills are
rising across the world. Where these
Millennials seem to be lacking in opportunity they are also trying to create their
own avenues through entrepreneurship.
They have been nicknamed “Generation Jobless” because they are unemployed
and not enrolled in some type of formal schooling. They could someday be the chronically
unemployed class of people who are not, or cannot seek, to improve their
positions in life through formal channels. This makes them more likely to use
alternative paths to achievement.
Nearly a quarter of the world’s 15-24 year-olds are seriously struggling
to meet the day-to-day needs of buying food, affording a place to stay or attending
trade/formal post-secondary schooling. This is a generation where a large
percentage lives in near despair every day making them a major challenge for
business and government.
At present, Millennials should be entering into part-time introductory jobs
to learn the necessary skills to earn higher wages later on in their careers. Without
out these introductory jobs they will be lacking both education and on-the-job
skill training to meaningfully fulfill highly skilled job openings.
Since this is a phenomenon occurring in multiple countries it has
implications for future business recruitment and consumption on a global scale.
A generation of young people struggling to find their footing will naturally
come along with a desire to change their circumstances. This is also a large
generation much like the Baby Boomers that has shown a willingness to protest
and support causes.
Without opportunity many have moved toward starting their own micro and
small business enterprises in an attempt to develop their own income streams. Their
learning style appears to be more focused on a natural style of development
outside of formal education. We can see the same mechanics at work with the
initial interest in free MOOCs.
With a decade of recession and rapid environmental change Millennials
live in a different world than their parents and grandparents did. There is no
such thing as a life-long job, substantive wage increases, or even a reasonable
assumption Social Security will still be around when they retire. They are on
their own, globalized, and transient making them one of the first generations
forced to someday rewrite all the rules.
