“It is not the lack of jobs, but the youth despising jobs”: the reasons of youth unemployment from the eyes of different actors

Turkey has a young population; the share of people aged 0-24 constitutes 41.1% of population. The youth unemployment is quite high (25% in 2016), and it has increased more than that of adults. The following reasons are used to explain youth unemployment: lack of work experience by youth seeking jobs first time, easier dismissals of young workers during economic crises due to “last in first out” mentality, decreasing need for labour as a result of technological developments, and high expectations of youth from first jobs. Political actors and employers (business world) often use the expression in the title “the problem is not the lack of jobs, but the youth despising jobs” to explain the causes of youth unemployment in Turkey. This explanation represents an incriminating approach to the unemployed youth. The essence of this accusing approach is that “there are enough jobs in the labour market but the young people are very selective about these opportunities”. As the youth unemployment could not be explained simply by blaming young people, this paper aimed to understand the views and perspectives of different labour market actors in Turkey. A qualitative research methodology was used in the study, including in-depth interviews with the three actors: public administrators, employers, and young people themselves. Each side had indeed both conflicting and overlapping dimensions of their viewpoints on the reasons of youth unemployment