Young People, Work & Skills.
In a world of social disparities, where education has been severely disrupted by COVID-19 and the spectre of climate change looms, young people could be forgiven for being pessimistic about their futures. However, our new poll shows high levels of optimism about the chance of having the career they want. Young people know the challenges, but are confident they can overcome them.
Conducted through UNICEF’s U-report platform – a messaging tool that empowers young people to speak out on issues that matter to them – the poll found that 63% of the almost 11,000 youth across 136 countries who took the survey believe it is likely they will have the career they want in the future.
So why are many young people so positive? And what would the almost two in five young people who are pessimistic like to see to help them achieve their potential? On World Youth Skills Day, we spoke with a small group of youth to help understand what is driving this optimism and what challenges they are worried about. Here is what we learned from them.
Building resilience and adaptability through the pandemic
I wish life was a game which came with instructions, but unfortunately we don’t have that roadmap that can tell us exactly what we should do to get to where we want to be.
—Praise Majwafi, 22, South Africa
A topic we talked about was the impact of the pandemic on young people. Participants agreed that because the past year has been so challenging, it has taught them to manage through uncertainty.
“The pandemic has given us a crash-course in resilience and adaptability,” said 23-year old Sana Farooq, the co-founder of a social enterprise in Pakistan called The Red Code.
“Being flexible and adaptable is something we’ve all had to get used to,” added 22-year old Praise Majwafi, a social entrepreneur from South Africa.
Preparedness - Staying Focused and Hopeful in 2021
Resilience - Relentless - Change - Optimism - Challenging - Adaptable - Unprecedented - Testing - Unexpected - Grateful - Unpredictable - Overwhelming - Weird - Surreal - Tumultuous - Sad - Revealing
Looking back at 2020 so may feelings and emotions come to the fore, some of the words describing how we felt and what we expereinced can be used to sum up a year that change everything and everyone.
However, looking back can only serve the purpose of ensuring we are able to move forward in a different way to the way we lived before the Pandemic, before we knew what Covid-19 actually meant.
As the New Year approaches people will start to think about resolutions and change but 2021 is the year of Hope. So what’s the best way to approach 2021.
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Understand and Reflect on what we have been through. We should never forget the challenges and obstacles that were beyond our control and yet we did our utmost to overcome them.
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Plan Plan Plan for a very different future. Life is not nor it ever will be the same, hence the Great Reset - Version 4.0 of the next phase of our lives.
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Be Optimistic The negativity has overtaken us all, Look forward to something fresh and new, with a twist.
Adapting to Change
Almost six months since Lockdown, almost six months when the Coronavirus became a reality in the UK, almost six months since we were ALL required to adapt to change.
In a country of almost 70 million people not everyone has been impacted by the pandemic in the same way, some more so than others, yet regardless of how different the experience may or may not have been, we were connected and united by the exact same thing.
The virus forced us to change in a way that we had never needed to and there was no “game plan” or rule book because there was nothing that anyone could compare it to. The Second World War perhaps with its global impact, but how do you fight something you can’t see?
Rethinking Your Business Strategy and the Great Reset
Goodness the first six months of 2020 have been “interesting” to say the least. The beginning of a new month and new quarter is a perfect time to reflect and think about what you want to achieve in the second half of this year . Remember the impact of the pandemic has been a shock to businesses and all your team.
We may think we are communicating enough – how many Zoom, Teams, GoToMeeting sessions have we attended over the last 3 months? Yet, in times of uncertainty, significant change, WFH - we can assume that not all the information being provided is being taken in.
Remember, employees are also dealing with the current crisis and life changes in their own way. People may hear what you are telling them, but do they really understand what you are saying. Along furlough, redistribution of work, changes being implemented at home - even those with a high level of intellectual ability may feel “swamped”.