It’s the lack of jobs stupid! – Or is it?

I am daily asked if I know of jobs for young people. There are thousands of people with different levels of skill who are looking for jobs. They have no idea what is available and how to get them. There is no proper channel other than asking friends and acquaintances if they know of any jobs. I cannot believe that in 2012 we are still trying to place people in the age old method of contacts!

It is important that we are able place people in employment by some kind of formal means whereby employers can find reliable people with the right qualifications without delay. In this day with all the technology at our disposal, if we are not able to find jobs that are already there and match skills with vacancies, what good is all the new technology?

Youth unemployment is the single most important issue for young people across the world, but more especially in Sri Lanka as we are about to face a crisis where our young people are turning to violence drugs and alcohol as a means to relieve their stresses of feeling inadequate without job prospects. This should not be allowed. We as a society owe it to them to do our utmost to get them on the right trajectory without delay. The younger you are the more productive you are. If you have the right education and now is when your brain function is at its highest, if you do not use it to the maximum you are only to blame for the mess.

My suggestion is a youth job bank to be set up by the youth for the youth. The adults are not going to do this out of the goodness of their hearts. They are only going to do it for themselves. I feel the job bank coordinators can make it pay as well as there is a huge amount of money involved in finding employment. We see that every day with the sums earned by overseas agents placing people in various overseas countries on a daily basis.

We must then be able to tell them as long as your information is correct and you are able to hold down a job, we CAN and we WILL find you a job. It is up to you to make the most of it. Do not concentrate on income at first, but on experience and being able to work with others. The rest will fall into place, when you know how to work. You can use that as the stepping stone to greater heights from that start.