This article was written by David Morales Olalla, MSc, Technical Consultant on Entrepreneurship and Innovation for the Metropolitan Agency for Economic Promotion, ConQuito in Quito, Ecuador. ConQuito was a finalist in the Apolitical Workplace for Young People Award 2019.

One of the most upsetting problems in the workforce composition around the world, especially in public offices, is the widening talent gap between the retiring generation of baby boomers and the lack of young people adequately prepared and willing to take over their responsibilities.

On one side, research suggests that this is because most millennials are on average less likely to commit to “same cubicle” jobs for extended periods of time. On the other hand, a popular reason for this phenomenon in the public sector is that young people are not eager to get involved in it because they associate it with big bureaucratic apparatuses that exacerbate economic inefficiency and political corruption, especially in developing countries.

Bridging the generational gap

However, in most cases, it is the incapacity of national economies the most common reason that excludes young people from the labour field. In 2018, the national unemployment rate in Ecuador was 4,4 percent and the same figure for Quito was around 7,1 percent, from which roughly 60 percent were people between 18 and 29 years.

Considering that Quito is the capital of Ecuador and where most of the country’s public institutions are located, the fact that the unemployment rate in Quito is 2,7 points greater than the national one, and that it is mainly composed of young people, is evidence of the inability of the state to promote employment for young people in the public and private spheres.

For these reasons, ConQuito is working to reverse the widening generational gap in the workforce by using our public-private nature to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship, generate economic growth, and create jobs for young people.

Expanding options for youth

ConQuito was created in 2003 as an Economic Local Development Agency for the city of Quito in the South-American country, Ecuador. This institution focuses on socio-economic promotion through the articulation of public, private, academia and civil society actors to increase the level and quality of employment, promote local production, technological innovation and entrepreneurship financing, according to one recent study.

Some of its more relevant initiatives for enhancing youth employment are:

  • Promoting the development, professionalisation and technification of the skills and abilities of the population to promote employment among the youth.
  • Creating an employment exchange platform which offers additional work options, where entrepreneurs can find specific profiles for their companies and people can offer their professional services and generate a job on their own in appropriate conditions.
  • Creating an initiative called "Empleo Joven" (Youth Employment) which stimulates entrepreneurs and business owners to hire young people by giving them proportional tax incentives.
  • Expanding the opportunities for access to training in occupational skills for young people with disabilities.
  • The beneficiaries of its Entrepreneurship Area’s work, that provides a technical guide for startups, small and medium enterprises, is composed of roughly 25 percent of people between 18-29 years

Likewise, closer examination conducted by ConQuito on workers’ welfare and happiness in the workplace pointed out that the main concern of young people was the lack of flexibility. This is because young people have realised that the current labor environment is not as stationary as it was 10-20 years ago, being aware of the necessity to continue their education and job-related skill preparation.

This has provoked a national trend that originated in Quito that allows for more flexible schedules for labourers in which they can organise their own time as long as they work 40 hours per week.

Fuelling a virtuous cycle

Finally, in the same line of exemplary Young Professionals Programs of international organisations as the United Nations and the World Bank, ConQuito has promoted comprehensive succession planning strategies that allow young professionals to work for and learn from experienced workers in senior positions.

Part of this strategy is welcoming young people into the workforce and encouraging an internal hiring policy within the organisation that gives an opportunity to interns to get staff position, and to workers in junior positions for using their knowledge and skills in executive posts.

The exemplary labour of this institution is serving as an engine to promote the inclusion of young workers in both the public and private sector. Having initiatives that are appealing to the youth in terms of flexibility and building capacities in the city of Quito and its area of influence has proven to be a virtuous circle that positively spirals to the rest of the country.

This stands as evidence of the need for the government to take affirmative action towards bridging the ideological and material circumstances that compose the current schism in the workforce that has derived from the generational transition.— David Morales

(Photo credit: Unsplash)