All hands on deck

ACROSS developed economies, finding work has become tougher for the young. Almost a quarter of those in Europe were jobless in 2013. But behind that figure lies a paradox: only two-fifths of employers were confident of finding enough qualified graduates to fill entry-level positions, according to a new report by the McKinsey Centre for Government, the consultancy’s public-sector arm. In the eight countries surveyed, where youth unemployment ranged from merely high to record-breaking, on average a third said finding the right skills was a serious problem (see chart).

That reflects a mismatch between what education systems provide and what employers need. Mechanisation and technological advances mean the next generation will have to be better prepared for work (see article). In recession, firms are more insistent on hiring staff who can quickly get up to speed. The real shortage is of the right skills, rather than of jobs.

Yet universities and colleges are startlingly complacent. Of the hundreds McKinsey’s researchers talked to, three-quarters were convinced that they had prepared their charges well for work. Alas, just over a third of employers agreed. That means an army of young hopefuls, eager for a job but ill-equipped to do one.

Improving matters means ditching the outdated notion that education happens first and employment later, says Mona Mourshed of McKinsey. Educators need to get employers involved in course design, teaching and assessment, she says, as well as in tracking and learning from the future career paths of students. Switzerland offers careers advice and work experience to pupils as young as 12. In Britain Bath University does particularly well at finding high-quality placements for its students.

New approaches will have to acknowledge young people’s worries about the cost of education. Some firms have started to look for potential rather than polished new hires, and to sponsor the education of the most promising. In Charlotte, North Carolina, Apprenticeship 2000 provides training courses for industry in fields such as machine technology; employers pay the fees, help to write the curriculum—and guarantee a job afterwards. The Siemens engineering plant in Berlin takes trainees ranging from modestly qualified school-leavers to graduates, and helps to future-proof them by teaching such soft skills as teamwork and problem-solving.

Short, focused online training courses offer a more affordable approach for smaller firms. FernUniversität, Germany’s only state-funded distance-teaching university, now has 90,000 online learners, some in Russia and Hungary. IBM’s INNOV8 simulation game trains users to improve supply chains and customer services. Such approaches could be used not only to prepare youngsters for jobs, but to help mid-career workers to update their skills as employers’ needs change. Technology may have undermined long-held assumptions about the nature and permanence of jobs. But it also offers at least some of the remedies.