74% of young people in Serbia say that connections are crucial for finding employment, said sociologist Srećko Mihailović, co-author of the publication “Youth in Serbia 2018/2019”.
The publication was presented at the conference “For a dignified future: Young people’s challenges in Serbia and Southeastern Europe” organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Comparing this with similar research on young people carried out in 1960, Mihailović noted that 32% of the students at that time said that using friends and acquaintances was one of the two main ways to advance in the then Yugoslav society.
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“Although the 1960 survey was about progress, and this one (done in 2018) is about employment, they both show that connections and friendships are the type of political capital that was used six decades ago, as well as today, to a great extent,” Mihailović adds.
Comparing these two studies, he also spoke about the answers that the survey participants gave when asked: “Do you think that after you graduate, you will quickly find a job in your profession?” As many as 75% of the participants in the 1960 survey answered affirmatively, while the data from today’s research are completely opposite to those findings.
“Today, finding a job is more a pipe dream, compared to how many young people are actually being hired. Employers are hesitant to employ young people because they have no experience. The same goes for older people, who although have enough experience, are considered too old to be given a job”, Mihailović says.
“In this country and the region, and even in Western Europe to a smaller extent, people live with a lot of uncertainty and insecurity. Jobs are becoming less safe and less formalized,” Mihailovic estimates, adding that the fear of losing a job is one of the biggest fears that young generations have.
(Nova Ekonomija, 11.04.2019)
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