The Secretariat for Economic Development explained that the entity leads different programs that promote the hiring of young people between the ages of 18 and 28. One of them corresponds to “Youth Employment”, which encourages employers to hire young people between the ages of 18 and 28.
They registered 20,018 young people, of whom, as of February 2023, 19,419 have been placed in the labor marketaccording to the Secretariat.
In total, they have registered 10,419 women to the program, corresponding to 52% of the connections; 973 companies, of which 16.1% are large, 15.4% medium, 22.5% small and 46% micro-enterprises.
“Currently, we have the Evolution of Youth Employment, through Inclusive Employmenta program that encourages the hiring of populations with difficult employability, through economic benefits to companies that hire the 19 prioritized populations with the greatest barriers to finding employment,” the entity explained.
Inclusion
Con Inclusive Employment, a benefit will be delivered for each contract made. The goal is 22,400 placements and the value of the benefit ranges from $600,000 to $4,200,000 depending on the condition of vulnerability of the person hired and the term of the employment contract that is signed.
The company that hires them will receive a benefit of $600,000, $900,000 or $2,100,000 for contracts between six months and one year; if the contract is for more than one year or an indefinite term, they will receive double each benefit.
Likewise, during 2023 new calls will be launched, covering a total of 24,000 places, with which the Secretariat intends to offer new opportunities for access to post-media education for the citizens of Bogotá, through a flexible, relevant and quality model.
For her part, the District Employment Agency is the entity of the Bogotá Mayor’s Office that is in charge of connecting people who are looking for work with companies. “There we have our Employability Route, which consists of registering, guiding and training people, connecting them with opportunities and later placing them in the labor market,” the entity explained.
In 2022, the District Employment Agency employed 3,102 people. More than half of those placed were young people between the ages of 18 and 28.
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Unemployment
On the other hand, the District Secretariat for Economic Development, through the Economic Development Observatory, monitors the labor market figures based on the report of the different indicators of the Great Integrated Household Survey (GEIH) by the Administrative Department National Statistics (DANE).
Under this premise, EL NUEVO SIGLO consulted with the Secretariat of Economic Development on the current panorama of youth unemployment in Bogotá. The entity stated that in the year 2022, the unemployment rate for the young population stood at 19.2%; it decreased 6.2 percentage points, compared to that of 2021, when it registered 25.4%.
The graph shows the result of youth unemployment for Bogotá compared to that registered for 2021, according to the information provided by the GEIH.
Impact on citizenship
In Bogotá, as in the rest of the country, youth unemployment is an indicator of special attention, since it is related to the absorption capacity of the labor market and the entry conditions such as experience, explained the Secretariat.
In 2020, the pandemic caused a significant decline in this indicator, reaching 27.7%; however, in the following two years, like the rest of the city, the young population presents a decrease in the unemployment rate, which registered 19.2% at the end of 2022.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), in the world, young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are approximately three times more likely to be unemployed compared to people aged 25 or over.
In addition, the dynamics imposed since the pandemic have established additional obstacles for young people, such as the lack of vacancies, which could have led to longer transitions between completing studies and working, and, on the other hand, the increased risk of losing of jobs.
It can also have long-term consequences. It is stated that the conditions at the beginning of professional life could have persistent effects throughout the trajectory of access to the labor market, and quality and income of employment.
Therefore, long periods of unemployment could result in a depreciation of human capital, which would negatively impact productivity or, on the other hand, signal low productivity to employers.
On an emotional level, these crises could affect the expectations and aspirations of the young population, which would limit job search and establish a high tolerance for low-quality jobs.