Opportunities and challenges on youth employment in tourism 27 th World Tourism Network on Child Protection ITB, Berlin, March 9, 2012 1 B Y D R. W O L F G ANG WEINZ I L O, GENEVA
Labour and Tourism 2 Tourism is one of the largest and most dynamic industries in the global economy. Tourism is a labourintensive interface between workers and customers and a quality driven service profession. Tourism provides employment to workers with little or no formal training. Tourism has a huge potential for job creation for young and female workers and can contribute inter-sectorally to poverty reduction.
Youth (un)employment 3 Young men and women are facing difficulties to enter the labour market and to have long term career perspectives. This development has been sharpened by the recent global economic crisis. Worldwide an estimated 81 million young persons were unemployed at the end of 2009. The youth unemployment rate increased significantly from 11.9 to 13.0 per cent during the recent economic crisis, and reached 13.1 per cent in 2010.
Labour force participation rates by region, in percentage, 2008 4 Figure 6. Labour force participation rates by region, in percentage, 2008 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Labour force participation rate (%) - males Labour force participation rate (%) - females Labour force participation rate (%) - youth World North Africa Middle East Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America & the Caribbean South Asia South East Asia & the Pacific East Asia Central & South Eastern Europe (non-eu) & CIS Developed Economies & European Union Arab region Source: ILO SRO Cairo 2009.
Youth unemployment rates by region, in percentage, 2008 5 Source: ILO SRO Cairo 2009.
Share of employment by age groups in all sectors and in tourism, EU 27, in percentage, 2010 6 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% From 50 to 64 years From 25 to 49 years From 15 to 24 years 20% 10% 0% All sectors Tourism Source: Eurostat LFS.
Opportunities and Challenges 7 Low skill requirements enable people with little or no education to enter the labour market. In addition, the demand for seasonal and part-time workers disposed to work during long and atypical hours is high. Working conditions are relatively poor, the instability of the job markets, the physically demanding nature of work, and the lack of life-long career prospects can discourage many young workers from investing time and gathering experience in an industry where they do not see a stable future.
Working conditions in tourism are largely characterized by: 8 Poor career prospects Irregular working hours Little job stability A-typical forms of employment such as oncall or undesired part time employment Comparatively low pay Temporary casual and seasonal employment
Therefore 9 Attractiveness of tourism employment is low, even in countries with high youth unemployment rates due to: Bad image of the jobs Poor working conditions Lack of social dialogue
Consequences 10 Difficult working conditions contribute to high staff turnover High staff turnover is cost affective and has impact on Productivity, competitiveness and service quality
What makes Services productive and Tourism sustainable? 11 50% (max.) Skills Professional, technical qualification 50% (min.) Motivation, Loyalty, passion Commitment, soft skills
Labour needs in tourism Develop and improve a sustainable labour market environment through: 12 Toolkit on poverty reduction and skills with job career perspective ILO Convention 172 on Working Conditions in Hotels and Restaurants (Recommendation 179, 1991) Social dialogue at all levels to meet challenges and the prospects of tourism industry
Decent Work A four pillar approach Decent and productive work 1. Standards and Rights at work 2. Employment promotion and Enterprise development 3. Social protection 4. Social Dialogue 13
ILO tools 14 Guide for Social Dialogue in the Tourism industry Toolkit on Poverty Reduction through Tourism Study review of socially responsible HR and labour relations practice in international hotel chains Training program on OSH in tourism ILO Convention 172 on working conditions
For more information 15 http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/sectors/t ourism.htm ***************** www.ilo.org/sector or weinz@ilo.org Thank you!!