The Largest Unemployed Population Excluded from The Economic Recovery Plan
Young people are facing barriers to their future like never before. The pandemic is crushing the economy and our new reality has made many jobs extinct. As leaders, executives, and lawmakers start discussing recovery and more importantly rebuilding our workforce, the youth voice is not invited to the conversation.
As unemployment numbers rise, youth employment opportunities also start to disappear. Our young people are and will continue to be, disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the racial injustices in our country. Many of them will find themselves disconnected meaning jobless or not in school. Over the next few months, it’s forecasted that 1 in 4 youth will be forced out of the workforce before they even have the chance to enter it. That’s 25% of youth, approximately 9 million young people between the ages of 14-24 who will face barriers. Now it is more important than ever to invest in our young people, prepare them with the skills needed in our future workforce and help them connect with mentors and coaches to help them chart their path. After all, they are the future of work.
We need to repair the bridge between school and work to ensure there are clear access points.
Youth employment prepares our future workers for the future of work, fuels our local economy, and contributes to closing the growing skills gap. It’s not just a nice thing to have, it’s critical for our collective future.
Summer Youth Employment Programs (SYEP) have traditionally served as an entry and access point into the workforce for many young people. This summer, with the onset of COVID-19, a majority of the programs nationwide were canceled or significantly cut. Youth are the largest unemployed population because of these cancelations and program cuts, yet they did not and will not receive financial assistance to replace the lost income for them and their families. So, why does the team of Youth Jobs Connect care? Why does this matter in a time when millions of adults filed for unemployment? And why, right now, as Summer comes to an end are we focused on SYEP?
Funding for these programs ensures youth employability. The already underfunded, under-resourced programs are losing what little budgets they had as the focus turns to an economic recovery that excludes young people. This exclusion will prolong their skill development and ability to gain meaningful work, which in turn will cost our communities significantly long-term.
If we put blinders on and focus solely on the displaced workers who make up the 40 million unemployed, we will contribute to compounding unemployment numbers. If not supported now, if not guided or given access to the tools for employment, youth will feed into a life of under or unemployment rather than contribute to the workforce. This negligence will prolong a true economic recovery and leave our young people in a dire situation. The disconnected youth who are counted in the nine million did not, and will not, have a start to their careers, yet will be competing against seasoned workers. They will not have received the development of the foundational skills young people are expected to have prior to entering the workforce full-time. The bridge between education and full-time work has been broken for a long time, but as of this past summer, it has been almost completely removed, leaving them with few clear pathways to upward mobility.
SYEPs are long-standing programs nationwide that support youth workforce readiness and employment in between school years. These programs lead to those summer jobs where some of the most essential, foundational skills are first formed. Think about the communication and observation skills developed from that lifeguard job at 16, or the planning and leadership skills you learned as a camp counselor at 14, or the attention to detail and organizational skills absorbed in your first office job. These programs introduce young people to working on a team, building foundational skills like communication, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and creativity, while also being exposed to digital skills that can begin to lessen the digital divide.
Youth Jobs Connect (YJC) formed in response to COVID-19 to address the growing, gaping hole in the transition from education to full-time work. In our previous contributions to workforce development, inclusion, and the tech industry, we all acknowledged that the conversations and programs needed to start earlier. This means, workforce readiness and development efforts to impact racial justice, access, and opportunity, especially due to COVID-19, were almost too little, too late. We came together in May 2020 to help SYEPs better support youth in a time when everything went virtual, leaving many without access to participate even if the program was not canceled. Then began the nationwide uproar of protests in response to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other victims of police brutality and racial injustices. Young people fled to the streets to fight for their rights, health, and future. It became increasingly clear to our team that so many of the youth were not only marching for injustice but also amplifying the need to build them a better future. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 and the defunding of SYEPs is much larger than a public health issue or an unemployment issue, it's an issue of social justice and systemic racism.
As the protests highlighted so many issues it launched us into action. We can’t afford for another generation to leave it up to the next generation to solve. The burden should not fall on the youth to fix it all.
YJC’s goal is to partner with cities to build a backend system that can be used nationally to streamline applications, job matching, and track year-after-year participation, with an ambition to better guide youth on the next steps. Youth Jobs Connect sees an opportunity to help SYEPs better serve as the baton pass between education and workforce development to prepare youth for the workforce with relevant skills, guidance on opportunities reflective of the job market, and access to mentors and coaches.
At a time when the world seems to be turning upside down, remember young people still need hope, direction, and access. If you’re a leader of an SYEP program, we want to connect to learn how we can help you, your program, and the youth in your community. If you are not a part of an SYEP but want to help young people have better access to future opportunities, we want to connect with you. Email connect@youthjobsconnect.org to learn more about what Youth Jobs Connect is doing to help young people and how you can help too.