Unemployment disproportionately high among youngest workers

The current unemployment rate is 5.8 percent ( a six-year high). But among the youngest workers -ages 16 to 19- unemployment has reached 16 percent. And among workers 20 to 24 unemployment is 9.6 percent. The disproportionate impact on young workers is greater than in past recessions.



According to Bruce Tulgan, author of Winning the Talent Wars and Managing Generation Y, in the last recession the prevailing downsizing strategy was to cut older, more expensive workers while retaining and even hiring younger, less expensive workers. Now companies are more strategic. They are cutting people with fewer skills, less experience, fewer established relationships, and less institutional memory, which means younger workers, said Tulgan.



“Companies that are still hiring now want to hire people who can walk in the door and start adding value, which means people with more experience,” said Tulgan. “Whereas, they are less likely to hire young people who tend to need more extensive training.”