The challenge of youth employability in Latin America affects all countries and, according to studies, is not unrelated to pre-existing inequalities in society. A recent study[1] reports that in Latin America 60 million young people, that is, 421 TP3T of the total number of people aged 15 to 29, have not yet begun to enter the workforce. According to the report on youth employment by the Ibero-American Institute for Education and Productivity (2022), the gender gap is the main indicator of inequality in this regard. The average for all Latin American countries considered (Argentina, Costa Rica, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic), both the youth activity rate and the employment rate are lower for women; reaching figures of up to 45 points in Guatemala. Added to this is the class situation and access to education: young people with a medium level of education (complete/incomplete secondary education) are those who face the greatest obstacles to obtaining employment, which is evidenced by lower employment rates and higher unemployment. And if they do find work, these tend to be informal and in worse working conditions (IIEP, 2022).
The horizon, however, must foresee some new issues, which after the COVID19 pandemic intensified and intersect in the world of work: technological progress, the evolution of employee preferences and new business organizational models, which are shaping challenges and opportunities.
According to the World Economic Forum, in the near future, technological advances will require half of employees to reorient and improve their skills. Likewise, a survey by PwC[2] indicates that 79% of CEOs are concerned about the availability of key digital skills among their employees. At Civic House, aware of this dynamic crossed by new technologies, we are carrying out the project WorkerTech Argentina, promoted by BID Lab. This project explores new atypical jobs, which, mediated by digital platforms, offer opportunities to young people and people seeking additional income.
Now, aware that this growing digitalization of the world of work brings with it new exclusions, mainly for vulnerable sectors or sectors with a medium educational level, the project focuses, among other things, on soft skills training and other more specific ones where learning about the use of technological tools and digital platforms would allow access to employment or the development of small businesses. In this sense, WorkerTech Argentina worked in 2022 and 2023 together with local governments and sectors of the national government.[3] and with civil society training agencies to offer 5 training courses with 2 well-differentiated axes: (i) acquisition of digital skills and (ii) job retraining.
Within the first axis are the courses on Sales on Digital Platforms and Finance for Small Businesses. These trainings focus on providing tools to improve the strategy and volume of sales through digital platforms and financial management so that entrepreneurs can grow their business or those who are in the ideation stage can start them up. Digital tools are essential to start and maintain a successful business and our purpose is to provide very practical knowledge to use them accordingly.
On the other hand, within the Job retraining axis, there are the courses of: Frontend Development, UX/UI Design and QA Testing. The 3 courses have been taught almost exclusively to women, given the empirical evidence that they have unequal access to jobs linked to technology. Unlike the first axis, these certifications aim to improve women's programming skills and the development of their own website with the aim of potential job retraining. However, these offers showed a greater access barrier as they were more intensive training than the sales and finance courses.
Regarding the population that took part in this training in technology uses, we can say that the vast majority of people enrolled are women, reaching 89% of the total.[4]An identical percentage declares having completed at least secondary school and/or having university/tertiary studies. And if we consider the employment situation of the people enrolled, a little more than 5 out of 10 report not being employed at the time of enrolling in the courses and, of the subset of employed people, 1 out of 4 is informally employed or does not receive a salary/fixed income.
In terms of results, almost 1 person in 4 (23,11%) who registers, actually attends the training.[5]. Taking into account the universe of students, the graduation rate is 33.43%; which represents a not inconsiderable percentage for what is usually the average attendance of this type of free courses. As an evaluation, after six months of having finished each course, a follow-up survey is sent to observe results.
Respondents gave it a high rating, with an average response of 9.28/10; 80% rated the course as 8 or more (on a scale of 1 to 10) for what it brings to their future and 38% considered that their income improved after taking the course.[6]In the original survey, 32% of respondents who later completed the program were employed. Six months after the course, this percentage rose to 37%. This result is more promising if one takes into account that the comparison group (people who responded to the survey but did not complete the course) had reported 42% employment at the time of enrollment, but when questioned one semester after the course, they reported 36.61%. This means that while the “treatment” group registered an increase of 5%, the comparison group (which was not treated or was treated “poorly”) registered a decrease of approximately the same magnitude. This translates into an indication of a net effect of 10% of the program on the employment rate of participants, although, again, it is not feasible to make a causal attribution of this because it is not feasible to use experimental methodologies.
Finally, it is also worth making a final reflection on the project partners and the strategies of the calls and retention. The lessons learned in terms of the training offer ecosystem indicate that, for both local and national governments, the challenges are in calls aimed at interested audiences with installed capacities. The courses of the axis job retraining, require support logistics and equipment that, if the recipients do not have it, must be provided. This is the key; along with a policy of searching for information on available hours and available face-to-face spaces with a stable internet connection, it is important to deepen links between governments, civil society and companies. If, as the data mentioned above show, those creating labour demand are already alert, improving the offer must be a common objective.
[1] https://portalrecerca.uab.cat/en/publications/transiciones-juveniles-en-desventaja-al-mercado-laboral-en-am%C3%A9ric
[2] https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/c-suite-insights/ceo-survey-2023.html
[3] The five courses are taught in partnership with expert organizations in these topics: Njambre, Contribuir, ADA ITW and Fonselp; and the call for registration is made through local governments, with whom we work in alliance, ensuring that the courses offered reach residents of each town in Argentina with ease and greater penetration. As of November 2023, and with almost two years of the project underway, WorkerTech has worked with more than 18 municipal and provincial governments throughout the country, as well as with some of the most important foundations or organizations in Argentina, such as Cáritas, Fundación Pescar, Fundación Compromiso and Red de Innovación Local (RIL), among others. Our platform records a total of 20,980 people who completed the registration form to take one of the five courses mentioned.
[4] The universe of analysis includes 18,648 people belonging to courses that have already been completed. People who are currently enrolled are excluded from this analysis, in order to be able to report attendance and completion rates, among others, that have already been consolidated.
[5] It is necessary to take into account that the courses of job retrainingUnlike those for acquiring digital skills, courses have a quota (100 scholarships per course). This means that, as registrations increase, the enrollment rate tends to decrease. If we take as a parameter the participation rate of those enrolled only in short courses, that is, without a quota, the percentage rises to 30.5%.
[6] This question had a high rate of “NS/NA” responses (44%), which creates little precision for evaluating this item. As an illustration, if we exclude this type of responses from the sample, the percentage of people who perceive that their income improved after the course rises to 68%.