Unemployed Youth in Lebanon: skillful and unwaged
Opinion Analysis by Maria Wehbe, Staff Writer
March 11th, 2021
“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
The youth is our key to a prosperous future; they are the ones that are going to make a change, by being the leaders of tomorrow. Yet how will they do so when they are being denied access to the necessary tools to success? Specifically, the youth in the MENA region have to try to get by using whatever means they can. In other words, the youth has to resort to work starting at an early age in order to be able to provide for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, youth unemployment is very common in this region and is the highest in the world. There is a staggering 29.4% of unemployment in Northern Africa and 24.7% in the Arab States. These numbers are extremely high, but they are incomparable to Lebanon. 34% of the youth in Lebanon are left unemployed as of 2020. That is more than a third of the youth population of the country – young individuals that are seeking work in order to be able to live a decent life. Why is this the case? Why is it this common in Lebanon, more so than anywhere else?
What are the causes behind Youth Unemployment?
Youth Unemployment is prevalent due to many alarming factors that are left unattended. First and foremost, one of the main reasons behind youth unemployment is the slowdown in emerging economies. Global economic growth is further deteriorating from one year to the next, especially in emerging countries with a rising youth unemployment. The Lebanese macroeconomy has been facing a dire compounded crisis for decades now, and so, youth unemployment is a reflection of this economic disaster.
Furthermore, there is an obvious overload within the public sector due to the number of people that show interest in working in this field, yet there is not enough place for everyone. Shamefully so, those who seek to eradicate prevailing problems in the country are unable to access the necessary opportunities to do so.
In 2016, nearly 38.4% of students in Lebanon showed interest in working in the Lebanese public sector/government in order to make a change, and so pursued a degree that falls in line with the field. However, the sector is unable to accept a significant number of young workers. This is problematic as many students in Lebanon pursue these degrees, hoping that one day, they’ll be able to take over. However, where does this leave them? There is no place for them in the work field of their choice, thus limiting their options.
With that being said, it is worth mentioning that there is an obvious disconnection between the current labor supply of university graduates and the labor market demands. In other words, there are not enough jobs for the students seeking work in their fields of study. The higher education system needs to act immediately as a response to the current situation, working closely with the job market so that there is an alignment between the education and labor market of the country.
For instance, in the Fall 2020 term, 8044 students were enrolled in the Lebanese American University. Although this number doesn’t seem too significant, one must consider how many universities there are in Lebanon, as it becomes a cause for concern. Fresh graduates are usually excited to delve into work yet are met with frustration and disappointment instead.
Elissa Hassan, a 20-year old undergraduate student exclusively says to The Phoenix Daily: “With the deteriorating economy, organizations and companies aim to hire less people, thus making sure that they are the most qualified candidates. But how is one supposed to gain qualification with no chance of experience?”
Lebanon is not as developed as its other Middle Eastern counterparts, and this takes a drastic toll on the youth that aim to join the most globalized and productive sectors of the 21st century. In other words, a lot of young Lebanese individuals decide to enter the fields of technology, tourism, high-end agriculture, etc. Lebanon is not really up to par in this regard, which leaves these individuals at a crossroads because they cannot truly engage in the work that they want, simply because it is not available to them. The country is limiting our options as to what to pursue in university if we aim to work in Lebanon. However, these jobs that aren’t available have proven to be so successful in other countries, and so why shouldn’t they be made available in the Lebanese context? Our country needs to keep up with this rapid rhythm, and the youth willing to engage in these fields might just do the trick.
On another note, the presence of unequal opportunities is also among the main concerns in the MENA region. The labor force participation rate for young men is higher than that of young women. Female youth participation in the labor force was 32.3% lower in the Arab States and 30.2% lower in Northern Africa than the participation of male youth in 2016. In Lebanon, the unemployment of young women is higher than that of young men as well, where unemployment for young women was at about 19% compared to a 10.5% unemployment rate for young men in 2016. This shows that women are still undermined and treated unfairly in Lebanon; this problem is prevalent worldwide, but more so in Lebanon than anywhere else.
What are the repercussions of this unemployment in Lebanon?
These high rates have left a strain on Lebanon’s reputation as the hub and Paris of the Middle East. As the country keeps on regressing, so does the hope of a better tomorrow. Lebanon is no longer as dynamic and active as it used to be, and here’s why:
Brain Drain. Indeed, a majority of the Lebanese youth are fleeing the country in hopes of finding employment opportunities since the chance of finding your dream job in Lebanon is slim and almost unattainable. “According to Salam Abdul Samad, an immigration attorney, calls about immigration have not stopped since the beginning of 2020. Most of them are fresh graduates who can’t seem to find stability in Lebanon”, said Joelle El Sheikh in her article Fight or Flight: The Lebanese Youth. This is the tough reality of being a young Lebanese citizen: you are torn between staying in your country and fighting tooth and nail for it or leaving the country in order to secure a decent future. Nobody should ever have to face such a tough decision, because either way, we are left heartbroken.
“I have always imagined my life here and I have created my own vision of the country, hoping that one day, it will become a reality. Yet, when it comes to unemployment, experience comes at its expense,” expressed Elissa Hassan.
Lebanon - an ageing society in the making. Population ageing is a process whereby there is an increase in the proportion of old people within the total population of a certain country. This is what is happening in Lebanon: a big majority of the youth is trying to escape the hurdles and hardships that come with being a young citizen residing in this country. Our society will become an ageing society over the next forty years, and this will lead to even further regression: who will be fighting for the country when nobody is left? Who is going to be the change that this country so desperately requires? Lebanon needs to make better use of the youth at its disposal, now more than ever, to ensure development in a fast-paced and globalized world, before it is too late. They are the ones that will be able to keep up with the ever-evolving world that surrounds us, and if they all flee the country, how will that be possible?
The youth is not able to see the light at the end of the tunnel because looking for it has become too hard and painful, and Elissa Hassan expressed that perfectly: “It’s definitely hard to see the most hopeful generation lose hope. The older generation have seen it all happen and they tend to be less hopeful than we are. As we saw, the youth were the ones holding the Revolution from the get-go, indicating their hope and will to fight for what’s right. This also shows that they truly want a life here, a better one. So, for them not to be given a chance is extremely sad and heartbreaking. The social implications are drastic: no one is asking what you are going to do after college anymore, but rather where are you going to travel to.”
Being Lebanese is hard, more so for young individuals who are seeking a job in a society that will not offer them one, but no matter what, the youth in Lebanon never give up. They always try to look at the bright side of everything, and the August 4 Beirut Port Explosion is the perfect example of this. The youth swarmed the streets the day after the explosion: they packed their brooms, gloves, masks and whatever else they needed and got to work. They took this on as their duty towards their country and did it by their own will: nobody forced them, their drive was their eternal love for their country. This act of bravery and selflessness reveals the immense capacities and willingness that the Lebanese Youth behold, and what a shame it would be to see it evade and disappear into thin air.