NEETS: Young people not in employment, education or training: Characteristics, costs and policy responses in Europe

a report (Ref: ef1254) by Massimiliano Mascherini, Lidia Salvatore, Anja Meierkord and Jean-Marie Jungblut (Eurofound¹) from Publications Office of the European Union, 2012, pubslihed 22 October

The economic crisis has severely damaged the employment prospects of young people in Europe, and their employment rate is now at the lowest level ever. To better capture the extent of economic inactivity among the young, the concept of NEET – not in employment, education or training – has been developed.

This report analyses the labour market situation of young people in Europe, with a specific focus on the NEET group. It examines the determinants of belonging to the NEET group, and measures the economic and social costs of NEETs.

It also assesses how Member States through policies and interventions have sought to support young people to gain a foothold in the labour market. It shows that successful policy initiatives address specific, disadvantaged subgroups in the NEET population. They are client-centred in their efforts to set young people on a pathway to long-term, sustainable employment and they are innovative, adopting new ways of reaching a target group.

¹The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is a tripartite EU body, whose role is to provide key actors in social policy-making with findings, knowledge and advice drawn from comparative research.

Full report (PDF 171pp)

Summary (Ref: ef12541) (PDF 2pp)

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Quarterly Labour Market Outlook explains gravity defying labour market

CIPD research reveals that 1 in 3 firms are maintaining staff levels higher than they need in order to avoid losing skills, but will make redundancies if economic growth does not return soon

The immediate jobs outlook remains positive, bolstered by employers who are holding on to staff to avoid losing skills despite low levels of demand. This is according to the latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Labour Market Outlook survey of more than 1,000 employers, conducted by YouGov.

The report’s net employment balance, which measures the difference between the proportion of employers that intend to increase total staffing levels and those that intend to decrease total staffing levels in the third quarter of 2012, has remained positive at +5 (compared to +6 during the previous 3 months). The report also finds that optimism is higher among private sector SMEs (+46) than large private sector firms (+17), while the net score for the public sector remains negative (- 36).

However, the precarious nature of the current market is highlighted by the finding that almost a third (31%) of private sector firms have maintained staff levels higher than is required by their current level of output during the past year. The main reason for holding on to labour is to maintain the skills base within the organisation (as reported by 62% of these employers). Meanwhile, almost two thirds (62%) of private sector firms feel that they would be forced to cut back on labour if output or service delivery does not pick up in the next year. The report concludes that the recent trajectory of the jobs market, which has seen unemployment fall, may change course if economic growth does not pick up.

Continue reading (including link to the full report (PDF 20pp))

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