Where Do Young People Work?

Jobs for young people are very unevenly distributed across economic sectors. Regardless of country differences, there are striking similarities in this uneven sectorial distribution. Little attention has been given to understanding the changing composition of “youth-friendly” sectors for youth labor transitions. Using a shift-share analysis, this chapter examines whether the decline in jobs for youth, before and after the Great Recession, can be attributed to shrinkage of total employment in specific sectors (because of structural changes) or to a youth hiring freeze by employers (because of changes in employers’ preferences). This chapter examines whether the quality of youth jobs has deteriorated for young men and women in terms of changing proportions of full- and part-time, permanent and temporary job opportunities. The chapter concludes by arguing that more attention needs to be given to involving employers in policies that will enable and encourage them to employ young people, especially in difficult times.