B Y D R . W O L F G AN G W E I N Z

I L O , G E N E V A

Opportunities and challenges on youth employment in tourism

27th World Tourism Network on Child Protection ITB, Berlin, March 9, 2012

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Labour and Tourism

2

Tourism is one of the largest

and most dynamic

industries in the global economy.

Tourism is a labour-

intensive interface between

workers and customers and a quality driven

service profession.

Tourism has a huge potential for job creation for young and

female workers and can

contribute inter-sectorally

to poverty reduction.

Tourism provides

employment to workers with

little or no formal

training.

Youth (un)employment 3

Young men and women are facing difficulties to enter the labour market and to have long term career perspectives.

This development has been sharpened by the recent global economic crisis.

Worldwide an estimated 81 million young persons were unemployed at the end of 2009. The youth unemployment rate increased significantly from 11.9 to 13.0 per cent during the recent economic crisis, and reached 13.1 per cent in 2010.

Labour force participation rates by region, in

percentage, 2008

4 Figure 6. Labour force participation rates by region, in percentage, 2008

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

WorldDeveloped Economies & European Union

Central & South Eastern Europe (non-EU) & CIS

East Asia

South East Asia & the Pacific

South Asia

Latin America & the Caribbean

Sub-Saharan Africa

Middle East

North Africa

Arab region

Labour force participation rate (%) - males

Labour force participation rate (%) - females

Labour force participation rate (%) - youth

Source: ILO SRO Cairo 2009.

Youth unemployment rates by region, in percentage, 2008 5

Source: ILO SRO Cairo 2009.

Share of employment by age groups in all sectors and in tourism, EU 27, in percentage, 2010

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

All sectors Tourism

From 50 to 64 years

From 25 to 49 years

From 15 to 24 years

Source: Eurostat LFS.

Opportunities and Challenges 7

Low skill requirements enable people with little or no education to enter the labour market. In addition, the demand for seasonal and part-time workers disposed to work during long and atypical hours is high.

Working conditions are relatively poor, the instability of the job markets, the physically demanding nature of work, and the lack of life-long career prospects can discourage many young workers from investing time and gathering experience in an industry where they do not see a stable future.

Working conditions in tourism are largely characterized by:

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Irregular working

hours

A-typical forms of employment such as on-

call or undesired part time employment

Temporary casual and seasonal employment

Comparatively low pay

Little job stability

Poor career prospects

Therefore

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Attractiveness of tourism employment is low,

even in countries with high youth unemployment rates due to:

Bad image of the jobs

Poor working conditions

Lack of social dialogue

Consequences

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Difficult working

conditions contribute to

high staff turnover

High staff turnover is cost

affective and has impact on

Productivity, competitiveness

and service quality

What makes Services productive and Tourism sustainable?

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• Skills • Professional, technical

qualification

50% (max.)

• Motivation, • Loyalty, passion • Commitment, soft skills

50% (min.)

Labour needs in tourism

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Develop and improve a

sustainable labour market

environment through:

ILO Convention 172 on Working

Conditions in Hotels and

Restaurants (Recommendation

179, 1991)

Toolkit on poverty

reduction and skills with job career

perspective

Social dialogue at all levels to meet challenges and the prospects of tourism industry

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2. Employment

promotion and

Enterprise development

3. Social

protection

Decent and productive work

Decent Work A four pillar approach

1. Standards

and Rights at

work

4. Social

Dialogue

ILO tools

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Guide for Social Dialogue in the Tourism industry

Toolkit on Poverty Reduction through Tourism

Study review of socially responsible HR and labour relations practice in international hotel chains

Training program on OSH in tourism

ILO Convention 172 on working conditions

For more information

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http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/sectors/tourism.htm

*****************

www.ilo.org/sector

or

weinz@ilo.org

Thank you !!