HBR Staff/NASA
Summary.
The global youth employment crisis has implications for social stability and equality that exceed anything we have experienced in our history; 1.3 billion youth — the largest young generation in the history of the planet — are about to attempt to enter the workforce. But are they ready for it? Jobs historically held by the young are at risk of being automated at an accelerating pace; in a recent survey, 36% of CEOs said they were focused on improving productivity through technology and automation, a number more than double the share of CEOs who said the same in 2016. Bridging the skills gap is critical to maintaining social stability around the world. And doing so will require the actions of companies and governments together.Already facing historic unemployment levels, young people around the world have lost even more of their already precarious footing over the past three years. And now, effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and global automation are making it extremely and increasingly difficult for millions of the world’s 1.3 billion young people to find work.