How to combat youth unemployment Karen Roiy, Senior Advisor, Confederation of Danish Employers

Availability of a skilled workforce after the crisis is crucial for Europe's growth potential in the future Access to qualified labour is at the core of companies’ competitive strategies. It is an important condition for companies’ decision to produce in a given country A labour force with the appropriate and increasingly high qualifications is therefore very important for attracting investments, securing growth and jobs

The Global race The global race for best educated population has reached momentum Expenditures for education and for research and development are increasing sharply around the world – and especially in emerging economies Countries such as Korea, China and India has proven to adapt very fast to the educational needs of the 21st century. Becoming both competitive on wages and knowledge

Demographic ageing and challenges Ongoing demographic trends = facing major challenges, if growth and living standards are to be maintained More important than ever to tap the full potential of the smaller working age population Young people of today are more educated than ever. At the same time high youth unemployment We must act to ease young peoples’ transitions between school and work

What can be done? Greater synergies between the world of education and the world of business should be promoted at all levels There is evidence that well-functioning apprenticeship and internships systems seem to be correlated with low youth unemployment Apprentices/interns bring their academic knowledge to the company and their practical learning in a company to the school

Companies look for graduates with work experience Vital that young people gain experience in the labour market during their studies Combining theoretical and practical training benefits both business and graduates Linking education and employment generates positive synergies between the areas – and secures a smooth transition into employment

A number of countries have substantial workplace training Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland have substantial workplace training Iceland and Norway have elements of work based training in their VET-systems Other countries have more school based systems

Youth unemployment Unemployment rates (percentage), 2011 Data: Eurostat LFS 2011

Vocational education and training One explanation for the low youth unemployment in Denmark is found in VET Nearly all VET-graduates are in employment after a year, which also applies to young, male immigrants 2/3 of the training takes place at a company VET-graduates attain solid work experience and can contribute to the production from day one

Universities About 70 percent of Danish university students have a student job (typically working hours per week) Linking university studies with relevant business cases - such as using the company as a case study for a dissertation - generates positive synergies between the two fields Student workers contribute with the latest knowledge from universities