Our report dresses the situation of young people on the labour market with a particular focus on the role of small and medium-sized enterprises. The perception of work has changed significantly in recent years. On the one hand, career prospects have broadened as a result of increasing globalisation, while the development of new technologies has improved and automated the performance of many tasks and created a number of new areas of employment. On the other hand, new generations are entering working life, often with a completely different approach to earning a living from their parents.
The media often raise the issue of the difficult situation of young people on the labour market, the high level of unemployment in this group or the mismatch with employers’ expectations. In addition, the experience of the pandemic and the economic downturn was a negative factor causing redundancies and making it difficult to find suitable work. Currently, the war in Ukraine (although its impact is not taken into account in the report) may also turn the labour market upside down – Poland is receiving a very large group of refugees, most of whom are women, children and elderly people, who will be largely outside the labour market. In contrast, young men who have working in Poland so far may even return to their homeland to take part in the war effort.
Due to employment problems, the term NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) was coined at the EU level to describe a group of people who are not in employment, education or training.
The aim of this report is to determine whether the situation of young people on the labour market is really so difficult and bad? Are they passive and not interested in professional activity? Apart from the diagnosis, recommendations for further actions for the development of the labour market for young people will also be formulated.
