Saving Europe’s Lost Generation of Workers
The many post-mortems of the economic crisis that are now being written are misleading and dangerous, not only because the labor market has not yet recovered, but also because they contribute to complacency, thereby reducing pressure for reform. The crisis will be truly over only when new cohorts of workers are able to enter the labor market quickly and through the main door.
MILAN – More and more European young people are beginning to think just like Paul Nizan’s character Antoine Bloyé, who said, “When I was twenty, I would not call that the best time in my life.” The global financial crisis has hit them hard. The slow recovery from the recession may be even worse. Young people who entered the labor market through the backdoor of temporary contracts are now the first to be forced out as their contracts expire.
MILAN – More and more European young people are beginning to think just like Paul Nizan’s character Antoine Bloyé, who said, “When I was twenty, I would not call that the best time in my life.” The global financial crisis has hit them hard. The slow recovery from the recession may be even worse. Young people who entered the labor market through the backdoor of temporary contracts are now the first to be forced out as their contracts expire.