Who’s Responsible for Unemployment?

Have you even been unemployed? Or did you struggle to get a job? More so, did you do any job to earn a living even if you didn’t really want to do that job? If you live in countries like the US, where there are a lot of job opportunities available, you may not need to struggle to find a job. Besides, in the US, the current unemployment rate is only 3.6% and there is a shortage of workforce. So you are really lucky to live in a country like the US. But what if you are living in a country like South Africa where the unemployment rate is 35.3%, the highest among the G20 countries? So in this post let’s deep dive into who’s responsible for unemployment?

When I graduated back then in India, I really didn’t get a job that I was actually looking for. I did a job for which I was overqualified for because I didn’t want to sit at home unemployed. Further, I also wanted to get work experience coming straight out of college. But the work was for sure what I was hoping to do. It was tough, walking through the streets and by-lanes, looking for prospective business for my company. More so, it was a very meagre pay, much lower than what a fresh engineering graduate would work for back then. But still I did. Then kept on looking for better jobs that matched my interests and qualifications. Besides, it proved the saying life is not a bed of roses and there is no free lunch!

“The hardest work in the world is being out of work.”

~ Whitney M. Young

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G20 Countries Unemployment Data

Below are the unemployment data for the G20 countries have the highest GDP in nominal terms in the world. South Africa tops the list with the highest unemployment rate at 35.3% per December, 2021 data. So you may wonder what drives this high unemployment in South Africa. Besides, the root causes of high unemployment may not differ from country to country. It is the same story around inequality, lack of education and unequal opportunities to the different sections of the society. Because, for the most cases, it is the women from marginalized class, race or creed who are at the receiving end. Further, corruption in countries like India only exacerbates the economic inequality situation.

Unemployment Rate in India by Maximum Education Level

In addition, in countries like India, there is another interesting observation. Of the total 8.1% unemployed in India, 19.4% of them are graduates or higher. So what does this data mean? Then does it mean the higher you study, the more the chances are for you to be unemployed?

For instance, hundred of thousands of graduates, postgraduates and PhD holders apply for state government low level messenger jobs. This is because there are just not enough well-paid quality salaried jobs available in India since the country cannot generate jobs for its millions of youths entering the workforce.

For people with lower or no education, the unemployment rate is lower since they do any unskilled labor jobs in the informal sector. These jobs mostly don’t have any employment benefits like medical insurance, social security or pension, often fraught with risks of being fired with no notice.

Then the other problem is the employability of India’s graduates. Millions of India’s educated workforce just don’t have the requisites skill to be employed even if they completed graduation, post graduation or even PhDs. Since, we could attribute this primarily to India’s education system, which doesn’t focus on making student’s job ready. Because, the onus is more on scoring marks in examinations, wherein students regurgitate without focusing on understanding the principles and how to apply them in actual life situations.

Who’s Responsible for Unemployment?

Hence, we can keep on talking about the various systems in our countries and keep on blaming them for unemployment. Mostly, this is absolutely true. But do we play any role in our unemployment? Thus, let’s deep dive into what we can do to get out of unemployment. Because we handle our own destiny. So what responsibility do we have for ourselves? To get employed and live the life we yearn for. Since we live only one life and do we want to be accountable for ourselves or want to blame our governments for our failures?

What Can We Do to Get Employed?

Again, a heads-up to my readers, you will find this article useful if you live in a country which struggles to provide employment to its people. Because what we are trying to answer is who’s responsible for unemployment in this post. Where it is difficult to find work to feed your family two times a meal. If you have seen poverty where people live in extreme poverty, you could better appreciate it. Do you know there are about 685 million people in the world living in extreme poverty per world poverty clock? That is living on less than USD 1.9 a day. Of all the countries in the world, the top three countries with the absolute highest number of people living in extreme poverty being India and Nigeria having 83 million each and Republic of Congo with 67 million as per world poverty clock on May 6, 2022. 

Put this into context, in the US where unemployment is at lowest 3.6% it might be difficult to fathom that not everyone is fortunate to get a job that has employment benefits. Because in many parts of the world, even an informal sector job that pays a daily wage with no benefits is also a privilege to have, since it helps feeds the family. So would you still complain about your work?

Be Willing to Do Any Job

Foremost to get out of unemployment is to do any job. The job that we start with may not be our dream job or even close to it. Is it still better that staying idle and doing nothing? Should we treat doing any work below our social status? Because when I say any work, I mean the job that the market can offer us based on our skills and qualifications. It is the job that we can get today if we look for one. We may want to wait and look around for sometime but does it make sense to stay unemployed for months or years together because we are not getting the work that we really want?

Since life is about making choices, can we not make a choice of first earning a living and then keep on building on to our skills or education to get the job that we really want? Or if we have a passion, can’t we pursue our passion while still working and earning a living? Because work is godliness. Since no work is small or below our status. Besides, every work has its dignity and its place in our economy.

Work to Learn and Gain Experience

If the aim of our work, even if it pays less, is to learn and gain experience, then would that reduce unemployment? Because a career is like a marathon and not a sprint. And sometimes the slow and steady wins at the end. What I meant by winning is competing with anyone else but striving to achieve our dreams. Something that we wish to accomplish in our lifetime. So if the learning and the experience we gain by doing the work that we might be super excited about helps us ultimately the job that we yearned for, then why not try it?

Upskill for Employability

Further, to get finally the job that we want, we would need to upskill to gain the skills needed in the job market. Since that could entail pursuing specific online courses, certifications or just gaining work experience that helps us build that skill. This might often require working and studying at the same time. Because tenacity and hard word work pay at the end. Would you agree?

Pursue Higher Education

That segues to pursuing higher education. Again, this requires commitment, hard work and the financial resources often. But where would you like to spend your money? Invest in yourself or splurging? if you have a genuine need, then many countries provide educational help and scholarships that can pay a significant portion of your costs. But it boils down to how much time you want to invest in yourself. Your learning and growth.

Move to Other Countries for Job Opportunities

The last you may consider is to move to other countries that have higher job opportunities. Did you know the top five countries in the world with the highest job opportunities are The United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, The United States, and Japan? Something to consider learning about to how to immigrate to these countries for higher education or jobs.

Conclusion on Who’s Responsible for Unemployment?

Finally, who’s responsible for unemployment? Is it our governments for not providing the resources or the opportunities? Or the circumstances? Or are we ourselves responsible for unemployment? Because this might not be a straightforward question to answer. Since the answer to this question could be a combination of all these or additional factors. Thus, what is in our hands is what we can control. Besides, don’t we say our destiny is in our hands? Do you think it is true?

Our governments, opportunities, circumstances or we ourselves?