YOUTH ADAPTATION TO THE LABOR MARKET CHALLENGES
Authors:   Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, CHUB O. , ILYENKO A. ,   Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman
Published: May 2021

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the need to consider the issue of Ukrainian youth adaptation to the challenges on the labor market, which is under the influence of various crisis phenomena. They are related to the influence of both global and special internal factors. The aim of the study is to identify the impact of crisis phenomena on the youth adaptation to the labor market challenges. The object of research is the processes and factors influencing youth employment. The study of theoretical approaches to understanding the essence of the concepts such as “crisis” and “adaptation” revealed a direct connection between these phenomena, where the second imitates the first and affects the development of personality and the formation of new skills for transition. The analysis of the age population structure is carried out, which shows a low indicator in the category ”youth”. The dynamics of the level of youth employment in the periods of crisis fluctuations from 2007 to 2019 is demonstrated and negative trends are revealed. It is determined that due to the impact of crises, the labor market structure has suffered significant losses due to the decrease of the country population, aging of the nation, increased labor migration especially among young people, which leads to loss of labor country potential . Economic issues are the most acute for our state, and young people usually do not have enough experience and money savings to survive the period of trouble. Unemployed youth is a category with a high risk of social degradation, which is threatened by the development of marginal qualities, distortion of consciousness and civic views. Measures aimed at financial support for young people should be a priority, which should be targeted and provide additional employment guarantees. The fastest way is to develop and implement measures that will help young people adapt to the challenges of the organizational labor market. In this aspect, it is important to motivate and coordinate the cooperation of all social partners, which include employers, employment services, schools, higher education institutions and their career centers, NGOs, district education departments, and the authorities. An example is the Community of Employment Centers of leading Ukrainian universities from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Odessa, which was established in 2018 to share experiences of best and effective practices for promoting youth employment within our country. This collaboration has led to large-scale career activities for young people in all these cities, and during the pandemic, quickly find new options for cooperation with business, youth counseling and new career activities online. In order to mitigate the long-term effects of the coronary crisis on the youth labor market, a special program to support youth employment during the crisis should be considered. An example of such a comprehensive program, which can be taken as a model, is the EU program, which was established in 2013 and is aimed at young people aged 15 to 29. The terms of this program provide an opportunity to register young people who have completed the period of formal training and have not been employed for 4 months – for them the program offers employment opportunities, continuing education, internships, individual counseling and mentoring.