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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION BY

Submitted by: Edith- Britney Allie Ade (CY), Anna O’ Neill (CY), Elisavet Papaconstantinou (CY), Antigoni Stavrou (CY), Irene Constantinidou (Chairperson, CY), Emily Vrahimi (Chairperson, CY)

A. Alarmed by the lack of effort from schools and other educational institutions to provide the necessary tools for a smooth transition to the labour market 78 ,

B. Acknowledging that the technological change has contributed to the increase of structural unemployment 79 and occupational immobility 80 which has created a skills gap as 44% of Europeans between 16 and 74 years do not have basic digital skills,

C. Concerned that long-term unemployed 81 workers can be up to 45% less likely to receive interview invitations than newly unemployed or currently employed people,

78 74% of education providers were confident that their graduates were prepared for work whilst only 38 % of youth and 35% of employers felt that graduates are prepared to enter the workforce. 79 Structural unemployment occurs when the demand for labour is less than its supply in an individual market in an economy. It comes in 3 forms: regional unemployment, sectoral unemployment and technological unemployment. 80 Occupational immobility is when workers lack transferable skills to move from one occupation to another 81 Long-Term Unemployment: refers to the number of people who are out of work and have been actively seeking employment for at least a year.

D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K.

Further concerned of the high expenditure in unemployment benefits which reached EUR 174 billion, across the EU-27 in 2017, something which could contribute to a budget

deficit 82 , Noting that government expenditure on unemployment benefits provides an opportunity

cost to supply side investments which could be more beneficial to the economy, Alarmed that in June 2020 the youth unemployment rate in the Euro area was 17%,

Conscious that job polarization 84 creates rising inequality of wages while forcing the

potentially contributing to a negative output gap 83 , middle skilled workers to settle for low skilled jobs 85 , Appreciating the impact of educational programmes, frameworks and fundings such a

Youth Guarantee 86 in the process of reducing youth unemployment, Profoundly concerned that youth unemployment can potentially cause social issues such as crime, homelessness and vandalism, as empirically one-percentage-point increase in unemployment increases the property crime by nearly 9% on average, due to stigma,

Deeply regretting that the lower personal incomes and standards of living of young

unemployed may lead to depression and anxiety 87 , Noting with regret that youth brain drain has increased, as in 2017 1/3rd of EU movers were in the 15-34 age bracket, something which is associated with a decrease in GDP and international competitiveness;

82 A budget deficit occurs when government spending is greater than government revenue. 83 A negative output gap occurs when actual output is less than what an economy could produce at full capacity. 84 Job polarisation occurs when middle-class jobs—requiring a moderate level of skills, like autoworkers’ jobs—seem to disappear relative to those at the bottom, requiring few skills, and those at the top, requiring greater skill levels. 85 Between 1995 and 2015, middle skilled jobs in Western Europe decreased by 10%. 86 The Youth Guarantee is a commitment by all Member States to ensure that all young people under the age of 25 years receive a good quality of education, apprenticeship, traineeship within a period of 4 months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. 87 In Brussels in 2013, 57.14% of the unemployed suffered from mental distress and 35.71% had a possible health disorder.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Asks Member States to: a. give students in schools the opportunity to attend technologically advanced workplaces either through educational trips or placements, b. create programs specifically offering soft skills or technological skills which

will smooth the transition between school or university and employment; Further asks each Member States’ Ministry of Education to give bonus-related pay, promotions and/or create a point system for educators that get involved in programmes that prepares and allows them to provide their students with necessary skills that

different jobs require aside from academic knowledge; Invites the Member States' Ministry of Education to employ corporate trainers to deliver free online seminars for people in and out of education to provide them with essential

workplace skills such as communication skills and organisational skills; Encourages the European Commission to: a. further expand its Youth Guarantee programme by including summer internships where students could have an insight into a workspace in order to help them have a smooth transition from education to the labor market, b. collaborate with different companies across Member States by offering them

tax breaks; Calls upon the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) 88 to create more free training programmes for unemployed young adults to learn the required skills to become more occupationally mobile and join growing

industries; Suggests that the European Parliament creates a piece of legislation preventing

employers from discriminating against long-term unemployed; Further suggests the European Commission to help the long-term unemployed by introducing free one-on-one counselling sessions, offered by government hired career counsellors;

88 The CEDEFOP is an agency that supports the development of vocational training across the European Union.

8. 9.

Invites Member States in cooperation with Mental Health Europe 89 to create counselling sessions with the contribution of both counsellors and previously unemployed people who will be sharing their experiences as to how they overcame

their mental distress caused by unemployment; Recommends Member States to: a. establish apprenticeship programmes, vocational training or work within governmental institutions for young unemployed citizens, b. reduce unemployment benefits if for a period longer than 4 months young unemployed citizens do not enroll in the aforementioned programmes;

10. Proposes that the European Commission along with the EU budget for the future 90 to offer training programmes where middle skilled workers can gain the appropriate skills to get employed in high skilled jobs;

11. Further proposes that the European Commission invests in the development of rural areas by creating job facilities which will employ young people and improve public transport such as high speed trains or metro.

89 Mental Health Europe is the largest independent network organisation representing mental health users, professionals and service providers across Europe. 90 The EU budget for the future isreflecting rapid developments in innovation, the economy, the environment and geopolitics, amongst others.