The Future of Work – Emerging-Europe.com
As PwC’s report The Untapped Potential on the European Labour Market explains, the supply of labour does not only matter at the micro-level, but the performance of entire economies hinges on the ability of businesses to find the right workers to fill their vacancies.
Many European countries are failing to entirely exploit the potential of the labour market, meaning that young generations, older people and women are not always contributing all they can towards economic development.
Youth unemployment has risen sharply in most European countries. Engaging youth in the labour market is not only beneficial for national economies, but young workers also benefit from it. PwC research shows that lifetime earnings for those who have been long-term unemployed in their youth is reduced by approximately 50,000 euros. Consequently, these young people will also receive lower pensions.
“An important and growing number of youth who have exited the education system are not (or no longer) looking for work and thus are not included in the official unemployment statistics,” writes Stefano Scarpetta, OECD’s Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs.