Is a new resilient generation set to emerge from the pandemic?

Entering adulthood is never easy, but 2021 could be one of the most difficult years on record. The health risks associated with COVID-19 may generally hit older generations the hardest, but it is the young that appear to be suffering the greater social and economic impacts with challenges relating to their education, employment prospects and mental health.

Young adults are experiencing their second major global crisis within a decade: the fallout from the global financial crisis and now a pandemic. Even the World Economic Forum (WEF) has given this generation a name – the ‘pandemials’ – and believes they are at risk of becoming the ‘double lost generation of the 21st century.’

The future sounds bleak if you’re young. Or it is? The statistics make for pessimistic reading, but they don’t measure resilience, optimism, determination or resourcefulness – character traits that may mean this generation outshines those that came before.

Permanent scarring?

A decade ago, the global financial crisis left deep scars in terms of lost opportunities and unemployment for young people. In the U.S., youth unemployment increased from 10.4 percent in 2007 and peaked at 18.3 percent in 2010, while in the EU it was 15.3 percent rising to 26 percent in 2013.

In the U.S., it took until 2016 for its youth unemployment rate to reach pre-financial crisis levels. The EU had to wait until December 2018. Some EU countries were hit even harder. In Spain, for instance, youth unemployment increased from 18.1 percent in 2007 to 55.5 percent in 2013 – and it hasn’t fallen below 30 percent since.

“The impact of the global financial crisis was felt severely among those aged 16-24,” says David Henderson, Group Chief Human Resources Officer at Zurich Insurance Group. “Despite having the skills and aptitude to work, many struggled to secure entry-level employment, resulting in mass social exclusion, a failure to build foundational skills and blocked career paths as jobs evaporated.”

Young people didn’t feel the benefits of financial stimulus packages. But they did feel the force of austerity measures, which delivered economic hardship and widened intergenerational and socio-economic inequalities.

It was one of the factors that created disillusionment among younger populations who expressed their anger, disappointment and pessimism in youth-led movements that occupied our streets and social media channels.

Déjà vu?

Then came COVID-19. The dire economic outlook returned. Once again, young people were the first to lose their jobs as they worked in sectors hardest hit by the pandemic – such as the service industry and manufacturing – often on part-time or temporary contracts with limited protection.

But this time there were new issues, including disrupted educational and training opportunities, social isolation from peers and mental ill-health. Since the start of the pandemic, mental health has deteriorated for 80 percent of children and young people across the globe.

Added to this, there are challenges related to climate change, social disruption caused by digitalization, and an employment landscape being transformed and automated by AI technologies that could curtail job prospects.

These issues could lead to the formation of youth movements even more radical than those formed in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. In fact, the WEF’s Global Risks Perception Survey lists ‘widespread youth disillusionment’ as a critical threat to the world that could “challenge fragile national institutions or even destabilize political and economic systems altogether.”

But instead of anger and disillusionment, the ‘Global Survey on Youth and COVID-19’ from the International Labour Organization uncovered something different. It surveyed 12,000 young people (aged 18-29) across 112 countries and found that 35 percent feel optimistic about the future, either often or all the time. Another 35 percent feel optimistic some of the time.

And, despite the challenges listed above, 40 percent feel confident about future career prospects. Only 16 percent are fearful. But optimism and confidence alone will not be enough.

“The public and private sectors must invest in improving education and training to ensure young people develop the right skills to thrive as we emerge from the pandemic,” says Henderson. “This should include vocational and on-the-job training, as well as providing young people with the necessary digital skills and technology to participate in Fourth Industrial Revolution rather than being threatened by it.”

Allow young people to shape the recovery

Helping young people to thrive in a post-pandemic world will not be enough. They want to shape the global recovery and lead the change. Failure to listen to the voices of youth in government, business and multilateral organizations could lead to the WEF’s fear of widespread youth disillusionment becoming a reality.

“Young people have always been agents of change and their optimism in a better future has at times been revolutionary. We now need to tap into youth’s resilience and their desire to make the world a better place,” says John Scott, Zurich’s Head of Sustainability Risk.

The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2020, which surveyed 27,500 young people, both before and after the start of the pandemic, found that the pandemic has reinforced their desire to drive positive change in their communities and around the world.

Three quarters said the pandemic highlighted new issues and made them more sympathetic toward the needs of others. The same number said they had been inspired to take positive action to improve their own lives. Climate change was ranked as the top concern both before and during the pandemic. If young people can stay focused on the issue of climate change while living in a global health and economic crisis, then surely we can all tackle the threat.

“Young people are facing some of the toughest challenges since World War II,” says Scott. “The youth of 1945 believed in peace after a devastating world war. This optimism helped to make the world a better place. Today, we face a different existential crisis: climate change as well as great opportunities from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Once again, we must allow young people to harness technology, be more environmentally aware and show us the way to make the planet a more sustainable place for us to live.”