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
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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
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www.ilo.org/sector
or
Thank you !!