Tough times for EU grads When Alex Godson started his first unpaid internship in Brussels, Belgium, home of the EU’s many political institutions, he believed a full-time position was within his grasp. But it took another three years of low-paid traineeships until the master’s degree graduate in international relations from Manchester University was offered a permanent job at the European Movement International, a lobby group, in May. “When you’re just rolling from one unpaid traineeship to another, you’re not on a path to anywhere, ” Godson, who relied on his parents for financial support, told Reuters. “There’s always that intern in the office, and you’re just the person holding that position at the moment.” His experience is not unique, as nearly a quarter of all under-25s, more than 19 million people, in the EU are jobless, according to the latest statistics. In Spain and Greece, which have been hardest hit by the recession, youth unemployment now exceeds 50 percent. In Sweden, under-25s account for 38 percent of those in unemployment, and they are taking to the streets in protest. “This is a social emergency, ” Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, told The Independent. “Unless we tackle the high levels of youth unemployment now, they risk damaging the economy and society in the long term.” With fears of a “lost generation” rising, EU leaders met last month to discuss the details of an action plan to tackle youth unemployment. They agreed to spend 6 billion euros (48 billion yuan) on creating jobs and traineeships, The Guardian reported. But economists have warned that throwing money at the problem will not necessarily accelerate its resolution. Instead, they stress that the key is economic growth. “It’s not possible to create jobs in a recessionary environment - you need growth to pick up, ” Carsten Brzeski, from the international banking company ING, told Reuters. Europe’s young, however, are not willing to wait for a miracle to happen, they are finding other ways of dealing with their grim circumstances. Some choose to delay employment by traveling or volunteering, some look abroad for better opportunities, while others stay put and seek to change their fate.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 01:01:44 +0000
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