大象传媒

This week there has been further evidence that the economy is picking up. However, one statistic remains disturbingly high: youth unemployment. The German Chancellor, campaigning in federal elections, says it's Europe's most pressing problem.
Recently I've been meeting people on projects that help 18 to 24 year olds find a job. Their particular focus is on young people furthest from the labour market - those with mental health issues or learning difficulties; those who care for a disabled relative; lone parents; those living in isolated rural communities. Almost all had few, or low, or no qualifications. Were they still in school, the idea of striving until they reached a grade C in maths or English would seem like the labour of Sisyphus.
Everyone I met accepted the need to raise standards. But the employers were emphatic that other factors were as important. The human resources director of a hotel chain said there were many jobs in her business that needed something more than, or other than, formal qualifications. So-called soft skills - always turning up for your shift on time; dressing smartly; relating to others in a polite, friendly and business-like fashion; and so on. Training, she said, could come on the job.
But it was what one of the young people said that I found most revealing. She now has a job, but what had disabled her for so long was what she called a lack of self-confidence. And she made a distinction between self-confidence and self-esteem. She was fed up with being told she needed to build her self-esteem. She didn't lack self-esteem. She had never thought of herself as unworthy of respect. But she had lacked the confidence to think she had anything to offer in the workplace...