Many Colombian families say one of the most difficult things for their young sons and daughters is getting a job. ...
Many Colombian families say one of the most difficult things for their young sons and daughters is getting a job. And when they do, in most cases they get temporary jobs in an activity that is not connected with their academic or professional profile.
However, figures delivered by Dane about the unemployment rate among young people aged 14 to 28 years old, for September to November2014, show a reduction of 1% during the past year.
Between September and November 2013, the unemployment rate among this population was 14, 8%, while during the same period of time in 2014, the rate went down to 14,0 %.
Another positive fact was that there was an increase in the employment rate among young people during the past twelve months. It went from 50, 5% in September to November 2013 to 51, 3% during the same period in 2014.
Talking about concrete numbers, there was an increase in the amount of youngsters employed that went from 6.075.000 to 6.178.000. In other words, 103.000 youngsters found a job.
Now the question is… what kind of jobs do these youngsters have? According to Dane, the sectors that are creating more jobs are trade, hotel industry and community services. In these sectors, 1.821.000 youngsters got a job last year. This number represents an increase of 95.000 persons when compared to the 2013’s figure.
The other issue is that the economy helped creating youth jobs in the areas of community, social and personal services. Agriculture, fishing and livestock appear in third place.
Academics such as Esperanza Ramírez, economist at the Javeriana University, think that trade and hotel industry is the leading area regarding youth employment creation, as this area has been showing a great level of dynamism since last year.
“This perception is not only in the big coast cities, such as Cartagena and Santamarta, where investors are building more hotels, but also in cities such as Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, where interest on this kind of business continues to grow”, explained Mrs Ramírez.
The agriculture sector has also started to require a larger workforce, due to alternative projects on fruits that have been developed a few months ago.
During the mobile quarter September– November 2014th, the global participation rate among young people was 59, 7 %. Young people represent 32, 6 % of the entire active population. In Colombia, young women showed an employment rate of 18, 8 % while young men showed a rate of 10,6 %.
