The following is the second of a series of columns reflecting the view from a retired man who lived in a different employment world. However, with his wisdom and common sense, he may lead us to think about the future of labour.

By Juan Cruz Ferrazzani

I have already told you that I am retired man living in the suburbs of a Latin American capital city and observing the region from my garden, while reading sitting next to my dogs.

In my previous column I stated that I rather call things by their name. The area where work develops is the labour market. My experience tells me that when a country grows, there are greater chances of employment for most people.

As I have told you, when I was young there was work for everyone. We were building Latin America. Today our region is a part of the world and competition is very tough. Our young people compete with young people from all around the world, as companies establish their operations where there are better conditions to develop businesses.

Therefore, everything seems to indicate two major necessities for our region. On one hand it must generate the conditions so that companies from all around the world find it attractive to settle in our countries. On the other hand, the region must provide our young people with proper skills to develop such business. These skills must also function as an incentive to companies.

Though the world has changed, certain values should not be modified. Labour is a right and people must work in order to feel fully satisfied with themselves. Probably the notion of labour that used to exist when I entered the labour market does not exist anymore. Back them, I knew that if I did things well, I would retire at the same company where I had started working. And so it happened.

In this century, my great-grandchildren shall work in many companies, or their might provide services through a company to several other companies, or they might be entrepreneurs and sell products or services. Anyway, it seems rather clear to me that they will have to adapt to changes and they will need to learn new things for sure. Things that might have not been invented yet.

I would like to witness the creation of more active policies which aim to link Education with Labour. I would like to see greater chances for social progress among young people who are born in poor homes, as such chances would prevent them from getting involved in many modern things that make them sick and set them away from society. I tend to believe that young people turn to scourges such as drugs or alcohol in order to dodge a harsh reality with very little opportunities. And that makes me sad.

I think that there is a need to generate the conditions that will make our labour markets more inclusive, strengthening the skills of our young people so that they may feel useful and move forward in life.

That is the pathway towards great opportunities for our region. The pathway for young people to change outrage for happiness. And for an old man like me to change sadness for joy.