Title: Unemployment, Underemployment and Heteroemployment: Research for the Labour Uncertainty and Insecuri
1Unemployment, Underemployment and
Heteroemployment Research for the Labour
Uncertainty and Insecurity of Youth in Cyprus
- Research of the Cyprus Labour Institute
(????-???) for the Cyprus Youth Board
2The aims of the Research
- Examine the issue of Uncertainty and Insecurity
of Youth at Work that originate from - The Unemployment
- The Employment Conditions
- The Working Environment
- The Status of Youth in the Cypriot Community
3The meaning of Insecurity
- The meaning of insecurity refers to the term
precarité, a sense that corresponds to the
experience of an uncertain position for people
who have already been in this situation. - The experience of a precarious position or
volatile, unstable, indeterminable and uncertain
situation that reflects to reality or it is
possible to cover a greater part of the
population. (???, 2002 7).
4The term of Youth
- The term Youth (jugend) is used from different
sciences, from the authorities as well as from
the society with a different way while the
legalization of the members that compose the
picture of youth is to be differentiated. With
the term youth can be comprehended a social
category, a generation, a group, a life phase, a
life part, a biological age In order to
understand the term of the Youth we have to
examine the legal, the medical, the
psychological, the educational and sociological
legalization of youth (???, 2003 514)
5The term of Youth (cont.)
- In the frame work of this research we set the age
boundaries of the youth from 15 until 35 years
old. - The selection of this age group allows the
participation of young people who are still in
education and young adults that are actively
involved in the labour market. - The military service and university attendance
extend the period during which someone will not
enter the labour market.
6Methodology
- Comparative analysis of Statistical Data and
Socio-economic Indicators. - Comparative analysis of Institutional Regimes and
analysis of the Employment Policies. - Focus Questionnaires
- Focus Groups of Young People
7Typology of the Insecurity forms
- 1. Insecurity caused by social exclusion and
social marginalization the type of this
experience can been mostly detected on people
that face insufficiency in every aspect of the
capital (economical, educational, social),
resulting to their problematic enrolment to the
labour market. - 2. Insecurity that originates from the disharmony
or the miscorrelation between the aims/
expectations on the one part and the actual wages
or working conditions on the other part.
8Fields of insecurity and uncertainty experience
- A sense of social exclusion Is there a sense of
non recognition or social marginalisation and
what are the reasons behind this sense? At this
point we examine if and in what way the age
factor has an effect. - The unequal participation in the labour market
and its relation with the employment. Through the
statistical data we try to examine the income
inequality, the nature of the work (full-time,
part-time and permanent employment), the
unemployment and also the relation of young
employees with the labour market i.e. in which
extend young workers are satisfied with their
daily experience at work. - The social net and the family support. Whether
the young is feeling included or excluded from
the social life and the social nets which offer a
sense of belonging as well as from the family
and other social institutions
9Resume of the Statistical Data
- Individuals in the age group of 15 34 are
estimated to be around 212,800 and correspond to
29 of the total population - The unemployed under the age of 25 hardly cover
the 12.1 of the total of the unemployed. - The age group of 15-34 constitutes the majority
of unemployed and covers the 51 of the total
unemployed in the country.
10Resume of the Statistical Data (cont.)
- The people with a low educational level,
regardless age, compose the largest group of
registered unemployed. - In this group of unemployed the 2/5 (2003) belong
to the age group of 15-34 and compose almost the
1/8 of the total number of the unemployed. - The two age groups of 15 24 and 25 34
together, summing up to 1175 and 1173
correspondingly, are composing the vast majority
of the unemployed with university qualifications
(2348 or 26 on the total).
11Resume of the Statistical Data (cont.)
- Young workers consist the 43 of the part-time
employees, with a total of 40 among them with
university qualifications. This high percentage
can be explained as the concentration of youth in
more flexible forms of work. - The youth composes the most vulnerable group
since the 57(or 17879 persons) of the temporary
employees belong to the age group of 15-34 and
54 of those people are working temporarily
because they were unable to find a permanent
occupation.
12Youth and Unemployment
- The increase of unemployment is caused by the
increase of the unemployed within the age group
of 20-34 - The National Action Plan for Employment 2004-2006
refers The selective focus of unemployment on
youth that characterises many countries is also a
characteristic of the Cypriot labour market. In
2003, the rate of unemployment of young people on
the age group 15 - 19 years was 14.2 and for
those on the age group 20 24 was 8.1.
13The National Action Plan for Employment and the
Essential Absence of Young Workers/Employees
- The guideline about the estimated active and
preventive measures concerning unemployment
refers to reinforcement of the effort of
adjusting the abilities of newcomers, unemployed
and employed to the needs of the labour market. -
- Reference on a Strategy of lifetime learning and
reduction of school drop-outs.
14The National Action Plan for Employment and the
Essential Absence of Young Workers/Employees
(cont.)
- Guideline 3, which is concerned with
confrontation of changes and promotion of
adaptability and mobility within the labour
market, refers to the supply of initial training
to those who are not specialized, to newcomers
and to learners. - The extremely important age factor related to
possible discrimination against young people is
absent from Guideline 7 about Social Embodiment
and Discrimination Opposition.
15Collective Labour Bargaining (CLB) and Young
Employees
- In the case of Cyprus, the Trade Unions are much
more powerful than elsewhere and the tripartite
collaboration is exceptionally evolved. The
endogenous weaknesses are obvious on this system
- Since the collective rights are subjected to
balance variations of supply and demand, they are
vulnerable to vicissitudes according to power
interrelation (and the extend of mobility
ability) of employees under the pressures of the
market. - Given the fact that not all working sections are
organised at the same level and that not all
units are involved to the same degree with Trade
Unions, inevitably this inequality affects more
the vulnerable groups of the working scale.
16Guidelines of Employment Macropolitics
- 1. The CLBs can be constructed on a cogent legal
institutional framework. - 2. There is an issue of more effective
syndicalistic involvement of young employees. The
Trade Unions could adopt measures of
encouragement and evolution of young trade
unionists, as well as ways of improved debate and
enforced relations with young employees in
general.
17Guidelines of Employment Macropolitics (cont.)
- 3. The socially accepted can be improved in
benefit of young employees. - 4. The CLBs on their own can impose new
conditions which regulate the issues of young
employees more favourably and they counterbalance
as much as possible the vulnerability of the
youth status.
18The Discourse of Youth A first attempt for
Critical Discourse Analysis of Young People
- Basic issues mentioned by young people
- The Institution of the Family and Insecurity
- Education
- Supportive Networks
- Employment and Insecurity/Uncertainty
19The Institution of the Family
- It appears from the discourse of young people
themselves that the institution of the family
affects negatively their chances of accessing the
several means and perspectives for their
successful inclusion in the labour market. - Even in cases where the participation of children
as extra working hands is not necessary, the low
social status of the parents and their low
educational level generates additional duties,
workload and malfunctions.
20The Institution of the Family (cont.)
- The socio-economic position and class origin of a
person is transferred and inherited through the
institution of the family. In that way, young
people who would like to continue their
education, follow the same patterns with their
parents due to circumstances. - In the case of youth with high educational level,
the kind of insecurity most often observed is
that of insufficient inclusion which derives by
the combination of extended financial dependence
on their parents after the completion of their
studies.
21Education
- Individuals with high educational level, mainly
coming from lower middle class (petit bourgeois),
tend to appreciate the value of education even if
the educational level has not provided to the
particular person the corresponding employment
evolution. - Individuals with middle or low educational level,
mainly belonging on low or middle social class,
express their disbelief for the value and
importance of the educational system in Cyprus. - Within the school institution context appears an
indirect and not so obvious discrimination by
teachers and fellow students, which generates
labeling situations on the basis of the family
financial situation and consequently aggravating
those students with feeling of discomfort and
abstention.
22Supportive Networks
- One of the sources of labour insecurity as
mentioned at the interviews and focus groups is
the lack of trust in the national authorities
specializing in finding jobs. - The first type of insecurity reflects the
internalization of ineffectiveness of the
national authorities given the fact that young
people feel that they will not receive anything
useful from them. - The second type expresses a feeling of
undermining the human dignity originating from
the behaviour of civil servants lower on the
national mechanism.
23Employment and Insecurity/Uncertainty
- The conclusions of the research show that the
collective social capital (as defined by
Bourdieu) obtained through time generates the
proportional conditions for the context of
insecurity that young people encounter. - Rapid rate of occupational interchange occurring
due to the logic of the absence of autonomy at
work, boredom, low income and uninsured work is
characteristic for individuals with low
educational level.
24Employment and Insecurity/Uncertainty (cont.)
- Another kind of labour insecurity mentioned by
the research concerns individuals with low
educational level who in the same time posses
unqualified occupations and refers to a feeling
of threat by foreign labour personnel - Young individuals with high educational level
exhibit a kind of insecurity deriving from the
imbalance between their qualifications and their
income.
25Employment and Insecurity/Uncertainty (cont.)
- The dimensions of insecurity for the particular
group of young people are not produced only by
materialistic lack but by a comparison of
symbolic stock with older individuals who posses
high work positions, as well as by the feeling of
insufficient status or respect that this youth
group claims due to their educational level. - Indicative of the insecurity between young
individuals with high educational level is the
fact that their current position in the labour
market not only does not match their
academic/educational qualifications but
additionally it does not offer the proportional
salary or the security of stability as this is
connected with a governmental position.
26Summary General Ascertainments
- Young people in Cyprus undergo several types and
intensities of labour insecurity and uncertainty
which derives from - The status of Youth in Cypriot society itself, a
status that settles young people on a vulnerable
position as receivers of discriminations on the
basis of their age. - The precarious work positions and the types of
employment (underemployment, part time
employment, temporary employment,
heteroemployment).
27Insecurity Types
- Type A Insecurity/Uncertainty occurring due to
expectancy disappointment of individuals related
to their position in the labour market - Type B The second type of insecurity is a
feeling of threat by multiple axis of social
exclusion.
28Insecurity Type A General Characteristics
- The first type mainly applies on individuals with
high educational level - Positive experience in terms of parental support
and their school/academic achievement - We ascertained that on cases of individuals with
high educational level, unemployment or
employment types like certain time contacts
generate a feeling of betrayal of expectations
and a discontinuity of the supposed educational
promises.
29Insecurity Type A General Characteristics (cont.)
- Insecurity of individuals with high
educational level is expressed in the following
way - Aspect of symbolic interaction with elder people
who posses high work positions without the
necessary qualifications - Insecurity as a newcomer
- Feeling of insufficient inclusion
- Lack of financial autonomy and extended parental
support
30Insecurity Type B General Characteristics
- The second type of insecurity mainly applies on
individuals with low educational level. - It implies a feeling of threat by multiple axis
of social exclusion. - An insufficient inclusion on the institution of
the school has been exhibited by those
individuals.
31Insecurity Type B General Characteristics (cont.)
- Individuals on this group accept that they have
inherited the working class position, which they
even feel possessing during the years at school. - They set as a priority their employment on manual
or technical occupations, due to the financial
difficulties of their family. - This group enters the labour market aiming
towards manual and unqualified occupations.
32Insecurity Type B General Characteristics (cont.)
- The working conditions in that kind of
occupations often lead towards low incomes,
uninsured employment, exhausting working hours,
lack of respect and exploitation of physical
condition of young people. - Feeling of Insecurity/ uncertainty for the future
enforced by the threat of the increasing number
of foreign workers. Additionally, they express
the belief that their insecurity is greater
compared to people with high educational level.