Despite a considerable reduction in the number of unemployed young people under 30 during the past 12 months, the issue of youth unemployment is still assessed as critical. As Eco News reports, the number is twice the rate of general unemployment.
According to the latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran, the number of unemployed youth under 30 has dropped from 1,730,154 to 1,449,890.
According to the same statistics, the unemployment rate among the youth between 15-24 years of age is 22.9%. The figure for those between 15 and 29 years old is 20.2%, which is two times more than Iran’s general rate of joblessness.
In addition, there are many university students -- those who complete their education in a period of 2 to 4 years – looking for jobs following their graduation. This is considered one of the major challenges facing the country due to the lack of sufficient job opportunities.
It is an issue at the family level as well, as most Iranian families have at least one unemployed graduate member looking for a job.
Market-wise, low demand for using the huge potentials of the young population has complicated the situation.
As a result, the marriage age and the period of economic dependence on the parents have significantly increased.
Depression caused by the disappointment from finding a source of income appropriate to the level and field of education is another psychological consequence of the sensitive societal issue.
The minister of labor has recently said that around 106,000 graduates with master’s and doctoral degrees in fields related to agriculture are currently unemployed.
Ali Rabiee stated last week that youth unemployment was being regarded as a major problem and stated that in order for the crisis to be solved “we need to bolster the technical and vocational programs as the taste and demand of those looking for jobs have changed.”
He also announced that 4 million more graduate jobs will be added to the national economy in the near future.
Human Capitalization & Market Absorption
In Iran, the relationship between the job market situation and the absorption capacity of graduates (the absorption of recent graduates into the labor market) is very low and stands at about 25%.
Lack of required infrastructures in the job market, negative growth rate of the economy during the past two years, US-led sanctions, economic mismanagement, and lack of long-term planning by the previous governments for improving youth employment are among the factors affecting both the employment and job security of youth in Iran, especially of those born in 1980s.
A more detailed study of the problem indicates that a disproportionate increase in university capacities, lack of coherence between levels of education and the job market demands, excessive imports, industrial underdevelopment, and insufficient investment in various economic sectors recent decades have highly affected the issue.
This has led to the existing imbalance between supply and demand in the job market. Many experts believe that the increase in demand for jobs will continue for the next few years. In case the economy fails to create enough job opportunities, the unemployment crisis will persist for a very long time.
