Youth unemployment still high

When it was time to enroll in high school, Oldřich Panovský had already decided he wanted to go into carpentry, but his mother wasn't quite so sure about his chosen career path.

"My mom was a doctor and an engineer, so she made me go to a rather famous and well-known school for graphic design," he said.

Despite the best intentions, the now 28-year-old Panovský hasn't been able to find a full-time job in graphic design since 2008, when the economic crisis first reared its head domestically.

Panovský's fate is shared by hundreds of youth who are among the country's hardest-hit as the unemployment rate continues to climb, hitting a high of 9.6 percent in December.

"I would change everything I've done since I was 15 years old," Panovský said, after describing months of sending between five and 10 applications a day for graphic design positions, only to be forced to take temporary minimum-wage jobs like lifting furniture and selling ice cream. He finally found a full-time job weeks ago as a teacher's assistant in a school for special-needs children.

According to the latest data from the Czech Statistical Office for the third quarter of 2010, unemployment is 20.5 percent among 15- to 24-year-olds and 14.2 percent among 25- to 29-year-olds.

"It's always the case that young people have higher unemployment," said Richard Jackman, an economics professor at the London School of Economics who studies employment trends. "Normally, there is some reluctance among young people to commit to a career path," he said, as well as more favor among employers for people who have experience. However, during a recession, the going gets even tougher.

"It's easier to stop recruiting than to dismiss existing workers, so the fall in demand especially affects those entering the labor market."

The hardest-hit area during the recession has been the industrial sector. In cities largely reliant on industry, unemployment rates are more than 20 percent, while the rate in Prague is presently around 4 percent.

Even so, youth who choose to pursue higher education and hope to work in more skilled positions are finding that although there may not be massive layoffs like in the industrial sector, new jobs are virtually nonexistent, as no one is willing to pay the cost of taking on inexperienced fresh graduates.

"I hoped it was not forever. I was trying not to get upset, but I kept wondering, 'Is this my fault?' " said Petra Lehárová, a 26-year-old history graduate from Charles University.

Lehárová spent two years in a part-time job as a receptionist before finding a full-time job as an accountant - a job she says she is glad for, although it wasn't her field of choice.

While attending university, students are often encouraged or even required to take on internships as part of their curriculum, but once they've gotten to the end of their studies, there is little in the way of career counseling.

"I felt alone," Lehárová said.

She tried to get direction at state unemployment offices but was told her qualifications were too high for them to help her, and the rejections just kept piling up.

"I applied for everything," she said, "[but] there was always someone more educated and experienced who got the job."

Unemployment is expected to peak at around 10.2 percent in February and then decrease slightly in the summer because of normal seasonal increases in construction and agricultural jobs, said Vladimír Pikora, chief economist at Next Finance.

However, actual job growth outside of that seasonal fluctuation will likely not occur until later in 2012 or even 2013, he said, especially after significant lay-offs in the public sector in the wake of government austerity measures that entered into force at the beginning of the year.

"Companies need to see larger demand. They may see some increase in demand, but they have to be sure this demand can survive four or five months," Pikora said. "They try to maximize the use of their current labor force, so these people work very hard, at 110 percent, which means they do not need more labor force."

When job growth does start to take hold, despite the government's continued campaign to encourage growth in higher value-added sectors, the fastest jobs to open up will almost certainly be in the auto industry, Pikora said.

"If there is any shift to higher-education jobs, it would be the question of a few thousand people," he said. "The main industries are the auto industry, banking and finance and energy, and in these sectors in the Czech Republic, there's not a huge demand for research and development."

In the meantime, there are not a lot of options for unemployed and underemployed youths, who are often forced to remain dependent on their families. Minimum-wage jobs pay only around 8,000 Kč ($447) gross per month, and it isn't possible to collect unemployment benefits without having been employed full-time for a year. More recently, austerity measures have slashed the total budget for unemployment benefits.

"I live with my boyfriend, and he has been helping me a lot, and my mom has helped me," Lehárová said.

Rumors about state-backed internship and job programs have surfaced periodically in the press, but no solid plans have been introduced to address unemployment among youth. However, a Labor and Social Affairs Ministry spokesman said there are plans to implement some measures in 2011, including incentives for self-employment and programs for retraining, as well as internships for new graduates.

- Klára Jiřičná contributed to this report.

Cat Contiguglia can be reached at
ccontiguglia@praguepost.com