Youth Unemployment: Lost generation, Lost Talents

Ever since I graduated from the UK during the early years of one of the world’s worst economic crisis, I realised that I have arrived this far through persistent hardship and commitment as a freelance graphic designer, having right now under my belt, more than 10 big clients on my clientele list.

Now that I am based in Singapore, I still cannot ignore the news about what is happening to my 2nd home. UK and the whole European continent are still in financial shatters, and with the recent riots in London, the situation is not any better. With many European nations suffering a 2-digit percentile of youths aged 16-25 years in unemployment (Spain being the worst at a staggering 45%), my heart goes out to them as each individual is a constant reminder of my humble, struggling beginnings in a foreign country – no networks, no contacts, no job. Even more heart-breaking was the suicide of talented British job-seeker, Vicky Harrison. And yes, the unemployed are 2-3 times more likely to commit suicide, as many statistics show.

I chanced upon this very interesting video about the struggling British youth:

Though I should count myself lucky for now, my early journey was quite similar to Vicky’s: send out 100s of CVs till the cows go home and not a single call for interview, doing multiple unpaid internships with little hope of gaining full-time employment at the work place, you-tubing hours on end to distract myself from my unemployment miseries and clinging on to a brighter hope of getting it there when potential employers show interest, only to be crushed flat to the ground by their excuses of not wanting to hire me.

Yes, I’ve been there, knocked hard, dragged through the dust, succumbed to endless imaginations and wishful thinking of making it there like the happy workers who walk past me, driving own their own cars, dining out and feeding their families. Such simple fares became luxurious as the bank account grew smaller by the enormous daily living expenses.

I sympathise with Vicky in every way who lost her self-esteem, hope and meaning to life when the 200th rejection came. Such was I adamant to get the job I studied a degree for that I went freelance after a year of free internships. The humiliation of not getting paid for the work I do while the fat cats became fatter was way too much for me. I did some research of course, before plunging into the ocean of the unknown like that. Within less than 3 months, I was able to fish in some clients to be able to pay my London room rent every month.

Trials and errors soon pursued, as my inexperience led to some mini disasters along the way (thank God they were not costly!). However, I was quite determined to cut through the tough fabric of the dog-eat-dog world and within less than 2 years since I started my first freelance job, I won 2nd place in London’s 2009 Cut-and-Paste 2D Design competition, along with getting some of my work featured in a few press and my articles published. Mind you that I did not start off with a business-savvy mindset, only just the strong will and determination to be where I want to be that led me to this day.

That is not to say I did not have my bad moments. Coming home to Asia proved as much difficult despite the much brighter economic stability, as long-term freelancers were interrogated during interviews as to why they did not commit themselves to any company, and the constant competition with cheap foreign labour and fresh graduates are just as exhausting.

Alright, enough of my personal story here but my point is, not every one is born or bred with entrepreneurial smarts. I am sick and tired of those rich, arrogant entrepreneur morons who love to flaunt fashionably their earlier struggles while shaking their heads away at the youth’s inability to achieve that level of success. This cruel world will do anything to feed its greed in a midst of difficult times, even if it means getting you in a hire-and-fire temporary job situation than a permanent one. They don’t care about if we have families to feed or if you are going to die tomorrow while we continue to seethe in jealousy and resentment as the young new duchess of Britain enjoys her luxurious life with her rich Prince William, immune to unemployment and financial woes.

I hate to acknowledge it, but yes, we are experiencing a lost generation of talents. Bet you graduates did not expect you’d be in the bandwagon, did you? After all, life under mum and dad was so comfortable that the hint of economic trouble wouldn’t be able to shake us from our naive ignorance. That, I will have to blame our generation of elders who have shielded us too much from the hardship necessary to mould us. One more year on the dole without a job and your skills will go down, down, down the hill. Some of my European ex-schoolmates who graduated at the same time with me, have since resigned to a life of being a cashier, waiter, salesgirl etc. while struggling to pay off student loans on a degree that never blossom into a profession.

Seriously, I see many of the youths sending CVs and doing all they can to get their foot in the door. Visit a restaurant and you’ll can find as many as half of the staff are fresh graduates. The last thing these Gen Ys need are to be accused for their ‘laziness’, as some ignorant members of the older generation do. Blame it on the system, the disastrous political decisions and the economic situation that are making life very difficult for many of them. Temporary jobs are not going to kiss all the pain away in the long run, so while employers may enjoy the low-cost benefits of hiring temporary workers, they can lose out on workers’ loyalty and commitment to the company which are essential to the company’s overall health.

Authorities should not ignore the importance of investing back into the young rather than focus heavily on the already rich and capable. Education must think outside the academic box to prepare students in the event of a recession, as the conventional saying that “you can get a better paying job with a degree” no longer holds true. The London riots speak for themselves after the withdrawal of government funds on youth activities and investments, not to mention the social ills of binge drinking, drugs and the widening rich-poor income gap that come along with it.

Until things do change for the better, it will be a jaw-breaking situation to see the scores of millions of youths out of jobs and out of their minds. By the time the economy does recover for the better, it may be too late for many of them to gain back their confidence. The future repercussion from what is happening today may be yet another tsunami waiting to be unleashed.