Based on up to date qualitative and ethnographic research, this book examines youth education-to-work transitions in the UK. Using the theoretical lens of a Foucauldian governmentality approach, the authors consider the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of youth employability training and demonstrate how different employability schemes planned and operationalised in diverse geographical and economic landscapes work in practice. The book examines and compares a range of employment entry route programmes and reveals the tension between employability and good quality employment, and the ways in which young people from varying social and regional backgrounds are positioned very differently within this.

This timely analysis examines the complex state of youth unemployment across Europe and offers cogent policy suggestions for addressing this longstanding societal problem. The findings reveal numerous national and regional factors affecting youth joblessness—not only market and economic challenges, but also deep sociocultural and political dynamics underlying the situations. Coverage details how the standard transition from school to work is disrupted in an already depressed adult job market, and compares a wide range of responses in terms of both young people’s educational decision-making and national youth policy. In particular, contributors assess whether the current crop of Youth Guarantee programs can/should be a model for employment policy across the continent. Among the topics covered: Youth labour market prospects and recent policy developments. Youth labour market in Central and Eastern Europe. Early school dropout in Spain: evolution during the Great Recession. Overeducation among European university graduates: a constraint or a choice? Promoting youth employment in Europe: evidence-based policy lessons. The evaluation of a Finnish youth guarantee: lessons for Europe? European Youth Labour Markets is of interest to an international audience of economists, sociologists, and leaders in governmental, non-profit, and corporate sectors through its broad and comparative macroeconomic focus and implications for policymaking, research, resource allocation, and policy evaluation.

This 2008 edition of OECD's annual report on labour markets brings the reader detailed information on recent labour market developments, as well as in-depth analysis of the effects of various policy measures and prospects through 2009.

This publication points the way to future initiatives to improve youth labour market and educational outcomes as identified by policy-makers and experts of OECD countries brought together at the Washington Conference "Preparing Youth for the 21st Century."

Focusing on the perspectives of policy-makers, the book's purpose is to closely examine the factors that make for successful/unsuccessful labor market related policy reforms. The aim is to reveal the political aspects, namely the chances, challenges and impediments to designing labor market reforms and to establish the conditions under which successful labor market reforms can be advocated, adopted and implemented (process). The work includes exclusive interviews with twelve former European prime ministers about the labour market reforms they initiated in their respective countries: Wolfgang Schüssel Anders Fogh Rasmussen Andrus Ansip François Fillon Gerhard Schröder Georgios Papandreou Mario Monti Jan Peter Balkenende Jerzy Buzek Iveta Radicová Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Tony Blair

Due to more individuals retiring at a later age, today’s workforce consists of five generations of workers with various educational backgrounds, ages, experience levels, and skills. Managers and business owners are now faced with the challenge of providing a work space that encourages the new ideals of millennials while also balancing the needs and desires of older employees. As such, new methods and strategies of working and managing efficiency in the workplace need to be explored. Five Generations and Only One Workforce: How Successful Businesses Are Managing a Multigenerational Workforce examines pivotal issues surrounding generational differences and management in the workplace including challenges in employee engagement, project management, and training. Highlighting a range of topics such as generation gap, workforce diversity, and senior workers, this publication is an ideal reference source for business practitioners, managers, executives, professionals, human resources managers, and researchers who are seeking more information on managing a multigenerational workforce.

To remain competitive, businesses must consistently analyze and enhance their management strategies. By utilizing the latest technological tools in the corporate world, organizations can more easily optimize their processes. The Handbook of Research on Technology Adoption, Social Policy, and Global Integration is a comprehensive reference source for the latest scholarly perspectives on the integration of emerging technologies and computational tools in business contexts. Highlighting a range of topics such as micro-blogging, organizational agility, and business information systems, this publication is ideally designed for managers, researchers, academics, students, and professionals interested in the growing presence of technology in the corporate sector.

This report comments positively on some aspects of the design of the Youth Contract. It builds on the types of interventions which have been shown to have a positive impact: increased Jobcentre Plus (JCP) adviser support; work experience placements; and apprenticeships. It also welcomes the inclusion of a new scheme for 16-17 year-olds, the large majority of whom do not receive support from JCP as they are ineligible for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA). The Committee acknowledges that the Government has sensibly focused wage incentives - the key new element of the Youth Contract - on longer term young unemployed claimants and there is an attempt to achieve sustainable job outcomes by linking wage incentives to the Work Programme payment structure, in which providers are financially incentivised to keep participants in work and off benefits in the longer term. However the Youth Contract on its own it will not be enough to address the current unacceptably high level of youth unemployment. A significant impact can only be made if all the targets are met. In particular, past experience shows that 160,000 wage incentives is a very ambitious target in the current economic climate. And 250,000 additional work experience placements for young people may also be unrealistic