Louisa Wong

Opinion | Youth unemployment: why we should be very worried that Hong Kong’s fresh graduates can’t find jobs

Many claim to be happily unemployed but it is more likely that desperation has given way to indifference. If we don’t help them find jobs and long-term employability, we risk producing generations of youth unable to be independent and self-reliant

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Youth unemployment: why we should be very worried that Hong Kong’s fresh graduates can’t find jobs

Louisa Wong

Published: 6:45am, 2 Sep 2020Updated: 7:06am, 2 Sep 2020

Some very senior leaders I have spoken to recently, from both the private and public sectors, are quick to dismiss the alarming unemployment rate among fresh graduates in Hong Kong as just another recession-related anomaly that will correct itself when the economy picks up. They said the Class of 2020 is no different from the Financial Crisis Class of 2009, or the Sars Class of 2003, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic hit.

I respectfully – and wholeheartedly – disagree. The Class of 2020 is not your typical recession-hit class. This year brings new challenges that need to be addressed with fresh perspectives, rather than stopgap measures that may have worked in the past. The problems may persist (or get worse) well into the Class of 2021 and beyond, creating a disengaged generation with chronic unemployability. This is sad but true; this structural problem, if left unaddressed, would become a problem for generations.

Before Covid-19 struck, 2020 was considered a pivotal year, starting off a brand new decade that would change the way we work because of a confluence of technological advances: 5G, artificial intelligence, smart cities, you name it. Has the Class of 2020 been educated to anticipate and participate in these tidal waves of change?

While Covid-19 has disrupted some of these trends, it has accelerated the development of new paths. Think of the worldwide work-from-home experiment, which has sparked debates of a new normal where young people increasingly seek non-traditional livelihoods rather than endure the traditional nine-to-five grind. The experiment has yielded mixed results, with young employees discovering they cannot always be as productive working in their tiny homes, let alone be competitive.

Just sit down with any random graduate to understand where they are coming from – something I am doing more often to decode the disconnect and struggles of Hong Kong’s “lost generation”.

03:20

Hong Kong’s class of 2020 fears becoming ‘lost’ generation as Covid-19 shakes the global economy

One fresh graduate said that more than half his friends are jobless. Are they worried? Surprisingly, no. They are comfortable waiting it out, enjoying their idle time, bingeing on Netflix or the NBA basketball playoffs.