Long-term jobless risk being left behind

Young people out of work and the long-term unemployed risk being left behind in any recovery in the economy, a review of the Government’s action plan on jobs has warned.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report also says more needs to be done to target activisation efforts among the long-term unemployed.

OECD deputy secretary general Yves Leterme said yesterday the best way of improving work opportunities for the young and long-term unemployed was by giving them new skills.

"It’s adapting the skills to what the market asks for," said Mr Leterme. "It’s very clear that, for long-term unemployed people, there will be less work in the future in the construction sector. For people to go from one to the other activity, a transformational approach to their skills is needed.

"This costs some money. Of course, with the still very difficult fiscal situation, it’s not so easy to organise, but still it is cheaper in adapting the skills of these people rather than the danger that they become completely alienated from the labour market."

The OECD report notes that long-term unemployment has doubled to 60% of the unemployed since the end of the boom.

Ireland also had the fifth highest increase in young people out of work or education after Estonia, Greece, Italy, and Spain since the beginning of the global financial crisis.

The report stated: "Unless more is done to help the long-term unemployed find jobs, however, there is a risk that some of the cyclical increase in unemployment may become structural."

However, Jobs Minister Richard Bruton defended the work of the Coalition and explained that 40,000 of the 60,000 people who left the live register in the last two years were long-term unemployed. However, there was still a huge challenge with unemployment still at 11.8%, he added.

Mr Leterme said Ireland was now viewed as the "model pupil" on "how to do your homework" when it came to fiscal consolidation, but added that the country still had a long way to go.

OECD officials said there were governance and policy issues that could be addressed and that the Government should measure how it was progressing with its job creation.

The organisation said different approaches for job creation were needed in regional areas or parts of the country outside Dublin.

It noted that many employers — up to 60% — did not use local employment offices or centres to find workers and instead hired directly or through private jobs agencies.