VOA标准英语2011--Report Warns of Scarred Generation of Young Workers

Report Warns of Scarred Generation of Young Workers

The International Labor¹ Organization (ILO) said the global recession has created – what it calls – a generation of “scarred” youth. It says frustration² in finding good jobs has contributed to protests movements around the world.

ILO economist³ Steve Kapsos said this scarred generation of young workers continues to grow.

“If you look globally at the number of unemployed⁴ youth around the world (it) has increased dramatically as a result of the global economic crisis. We estimate that there’s about 4.6 million more unemployed youth today than in 2007,” he said.

And they face short and long term challenges.

“Young job seekers are having to queue, wait, longer periods of time, before securing their first employment opportunity. The wages that they receive when they enter the labor market are lower than they otherwise would have been. And this really sets them off on a lower trajectory⁵ in terms of their employment and their careers,” he said.

Differences

Not all young unemployed or under employed are alike. Kapsos says there a difference between those in developed and developing nations.

“In developed economies, the challenge is really one of generating employment, lowering unemployment rates. In developing regions, it’s really the quality of employment, the productivity of employment where we see large numbers of young people living below the poverty line,” he said.

In sub-Saharan Africa, economic conditions differ from many other developing regions. That’s because it has fared a bit better during the recession.

Kapsos said, “If you look at the unemployment rate in the sub-Saharan African region, our estimates show very little change during the global economic crisis. It’s really not an issue of unemployment in the region. It’s one of low productivity employment. We estimate in the countries for which we have data, about a quarter of young people around the world in developing countries are among the working poor. They’re working, but they’re living below the $1.25 poverty line. The figures in many sub-Saharan African countries are much higher than that.”

Also, sub-Saharan African countries have had faster growth rates in recent years than many other regions. Kapsos says while that offers some hope for young workers, there are still some underlying⁶ problems.

“If you look at the sources of growth, a lot of it is commodities based. A lot of it is the extractives industry. And those are very capital intensive. They’re not labor intensive. So, there is a real challenge in terms of generating employment in the formal sector⁷, formal wage employment, that can really lift people out of poverty,” he said.

Not meeting demand

The ILO economist said a big reason for the high youth unemployment rate in the world is a skills mismatch. Young workers don’t have the skills needed for the jobs that are available.

Kapsos said education is one solution and improvements in education have occurred. But he says there are often wide education and skill gaps between men and women in developing countries.

Will things improve for young people when the global recession finally ends? Kapsos said not right away because labor markets typically lag behind the overall economic recovery.

“When we’re talking about youth, it’s even worse than adults in terms of a delayed labor market recovery. Young people are often the first to be let go in an economic downtown, and they’re often the last ones to get back into the labor market and to secure employment when things pick up,” he said.

The International Labor Organization findings can be found in its new report Global Employment Trends for Youth: 2011 Update.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

5 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

6 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。