Kristen Gyles | Educated, employed and struggling to survive

When I hear recent university graduates referring to their places of employment as modern-day plantations, I know something is off with what is happening in the job market. Unfortunately, I hear it often. At the same time, I have been hearing much of a declining unemployment rate.

It is great when unengaged people find employment. We all know the devil finds work for idlers, so from a social perspective, increasing employment only benefits the society by building the morale of the citizenry and keeping people grounded and occupied. The declining unemployment rate is therefore cause for celebration. However, let’s not be hasty in drawing conclusions that are hinged on the assumption that employment is one big, homogeneous category of activities that serve everyone equally in this country.

To put things in perspective, in October 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, not long after the Government had to start issuing bags with salt mackerel tins and rice to households across the country, the unemployment rate was 7.1 per cent. This was then an all-time low. The country’s current unemployment rate, we are told, is now 6.0 cent as at April 2022 – a new ‘all-time low’.

The mere fact that the unemployment rate managed to dwindle down to record-low figures, even amidst a worldwide pandemic where the country’s GDP naturally took a dip, indicates that the decrease can’t be looked at in isolation, and doesn’t automatically translate into the economic empowerment of the citizenry.

Between 2015 and 2021, direct employment in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector increased from roughly 17,000 to more than 43,000 people. Over the course of these six short years, the number of BPO operators increased from roughly 30 to almost 90 firms. So, we can safely say that the BPO sector has grown exponentially in size and impact over the past six years. To add to that, despite the crippling effects of a pandemic that saw many people losing income and the economy taking a hit, the BPO sector still managed to grow its direct employment by roughly 15 per cent between June of 2020 and June of 2021.

TRENDING DOWN

What of the unemployment rate? Despite all the talks of extensive layoffs and job-cuts, the unemployment rate has actually been trending downwards. At the end of 2015, we recorded an unemployment rate of 13.5 per cent, compared to 7.1 per cent towards the end of 2021.

So we seem to have a rather youth-dominated sector which is growing at rapid pace, running parallel with a fast-declining unemployment rate. Can anyone guess my theory?

Let me state here that I am only using the BPO sector as a representative example of a broader group of sectors that are contributing to the phenomenon being highlighted.

It is no secret that the BPO sector has been wrapped up in a mysterious love-hate relationship with Jamaican youths. More and more university graduates are being whisked off into the BPO sector upon their departure from university. In fact, young, fresh and inexperienced university graduates seem to be the primary target for some call centres in Jamaica.

The unemployment rate is largely driven by the engagement, or (under-engagement) of our youths. To demonstrate this, between April 2020 and April 2021, the unemployment rate fell from nine to six per cent. During the same period, the youth unemployment rate fell from 24 to 15.5 per cent. This type of correlation isn’t strange. Youth engagement is typically one of the main drivers of the unemployment rate.

All things considered, it doesn’t seem unreasonable then, to assume that one of the main contributors to the decrease in the unemployment rate is the rapid increase in employment in the BPO sector alone. And again, the BPO sector has many cousins.

What is the relevance of this and why does it even matter?

LAST RESORT

The truth is, for many young people, employment in a call centre is not viewed as much more than a placeholder or last resort. This is largely because these jobs pay relatively little and half the job involves blessing those who curse you and smiling at those who despitefully use you and persecute you.

For the avoidance of doubt, I think the growth of the BPO sector is fantastic. It clearly benefits the country and provides options for young people trying to plant their feet in the job market. However, if we are to call a spade a spade, after spending upwards of $1 million and three or four years on a university degree, you hope you will be earning at least a bit more than the widow’s mite at any given stage in your career.

As I have said before, there is a serious mismatching of talent and jobs, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction within the employment sector. That is a problem.

It is a problem because the end result is a diminishing regard for education since it now seems to have a dying practical value. It is also a problem because youths who may not have a tertiary education will always be by-passed for jobs that they are more than capable of performing.

Clearly, jobs are available. The question is, what jobs? Many young people are spending money they don’t have on an education they are not sure they need, in order to get a job that a high-school graduate should be able to perform. Pretty deflating.

I have used the BPO sector only as an example to show that while we are currently seeing an increase in jobs, but the perceived quality of those jobs is quite low. Notwithstanding the emerging information about the country’s decreasing unemployment, many citizens seem to be in disbelief as to how such numbers could possibly accord with reality. This might be because some employed people really only saw themselves as being employed to the job-hunting sector. They are constantly on the hunt for work, hopping from place to place hoping to pick up a few more extra dollars at each successive stop. This is the tale of the educated, employed and struggling to survive.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com.