Number of unemployed youths growing worldwide — ILO

Job prospects appear bleak for college students graduating this year

Despite the improving global economy, the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported yesterday that more and more youths not only in the Philippines but in countries across the world are ending up unemployed .

In its annual Global Employment Trends report, the ILO said close to 100 million youths worldwide were recorded without work in 2005 and the number continues to grow.

"Almost half of the world’s unemployed are young people aged 15 to 24 years, and they are more than three times as likely as adults to be out of work," ILO said.

In the Philippines, a majority or more than half of the almost three million unemployed recorded in 2005 were also youth, most of whom have completed college degree or secondary schooling.

ILO said the robust economic growth failed to offset the growing number of people seeking employment, particularly among the growing legions of jobless youth.

"This year’s report shows once again that economic growth alone isn’t adequately addressing global employment needs," ILO director general Juan Somavia said as he warned of a global job crisis.

"We are facing a global job crisis of mammoth proportion, and a deficit in decent work that isn’t going to go away by itself," Somavia noted.

He then called on governments worldwide to reformulate development and growth strategies to curb rising global unemployment.

ILO said the high number of unemployed youths is "troublesome," considering the fact that the youth make up only 25 percent of the working age population.

The ILO trends report showed that at the end of 2005, there were about 191.8 million jobless people worldwide or an increase of 2.2 million since 2004 and 34.4 million since 1995.