The number of unemployed young people worldwide has reached 67 million. As an economic slowdown, geopolitical tensions and weak job creation make it harder for young people to enter the labor market, a warning has emerged that the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) could further worsen youth employment conditions.
According to Reuters on the 12th, the International Labour Organization (ILO) under the United Nations (UN) said in a report released that day that last year's global youth unemployment rate for those ages 15 to 24 was 12.4%. That means about 67 million young people worldwide are unable to find jobs. Youth employment conditions, which had been improving after the COVID-19 pandemic, have worsened again. The ILO assessed that both the quantity and quality of jobs available to young people have deteriorated.
The share of young people who are neither employed nor participating in education or vocational training has also risen. The so-called "NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training)" youth rate reached 20%. In headcount terms, that exceeds 257 million people.
The ILO said, "The situation is worsening in nearly all regions." According to the report, youth unemployment rose from 2023 to last year in eight of the world's 11 subregions. Youth unemployment increased across high-income countries as well as lower-middle-income and low-income countries.
Regional gaps were also large. Last year, the highest youth unemployment rate was in Arab countries at 26.2%. North Africa followed at 22.6%. During the same period, the youth unemployment rate in North America was 9.8%, and in Northern, Southern and Western Europe it was 15%.
In particular, the decline of middle-skill jobs, which have served as a stepping stone when young people first enter the labor market, was identified as a problem. Office and administrative work, sales jobs and manufacturing jobs are representative examples, and they are the occupations that young people who have completed secondary education or university typically entered when first getting hired. The ILO analyzed that as middle-skill jobs decline, young people with secondary education who want these positions are waiting longer to find work, resulting in more cases of being unemployed.
Amid this, the spread of AI is also emerging as a new variable in the youth labor market. The ILO estimated that 6.1% of jobs currently held by those ages 15 to 29 fall into occupations most exposed to AI-driven changes. The ILO said that if 10% of those jobs were to disappear completely, about 5.6 million young workers could be affected by unemployment, job transitions or leaving the labor market. In particular, the ILO expected these risks to be concentrated mainly among young people in high-income countries.
However, this does not mean that 5.6 million youth jobs will in fact disappear because of AI. The figure estimates potential impact by assuming that 10% of the youth jobs most exposed to AI would vanish completely. The ILO noted that while the long-term effects of AI on the labor market remain uncertain, the related risks should not be underestimated.