This post originally appeared on the S4YE website.

In 2015, amid lingering youth un- and under- employment and a complex economic, social political landscape in which labor markets were becoming more dynamic just as insecurity and mobility were on the rise, S4YE released its inaugural baseline report on the state of youth employment around the world. The report focused on low and middle income countries where the situation is arguably most pressing and where we hope to have the most impact.

Today, the employment outlook for young people still looks grim, as global trends indicate that migration – voluntary and involuntary – is bound to be a defining characteristic of the 21st century. A number of factors will ensure that mass mobility continues or even increases over the foreseeable future. Structural labor shortages in wealthier countries, together with wages that are orders of magnitude higher than in poorer countries, will continue to drive the movement of workers to seek better opportunities. Continued political instability and violence will drive families to seek security; and greater climatic volatility may displace hundreds of millions of people. Arguably these factors and the implications for employment trajectories are intensified for young people, calling for greater attention to the opportunities and risks in migration.

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