Businesses can face short-term challenges in the form of skill shortages due also to high youth unemployment, but this can also have a long-term impact in the form of lower productivity and less innovation.

It is vital for businesses that they adapt their organizations to attract and retain new, young talent. One way to do that is by investing more in apprenticeships and professional training of younger workers, according to PwC Romania.

“Romania could also benefit immensely from increasing young workers’ participation on the labor market. As we already know, almost a quarter out of Romania’s young workers under 24 years old are not in education, employment, or training. These young people hold a huge reservoir of creativity and productivity which should be capitalized by us, as a nation,” said Ionut Simion, country managing partner PwC Romania.

“In order to improve this situation, more coherent educational policies are needed, along with raising investments in this area, aligning the school curricula to the labor market needs, and involving the private sector in the educational and professional training systems,” Simion added.

According to a PwC report, Switzerland and Germany top the ranking of the most successful countries in developing the potential of their young generations (under 25 years old). The PIGS countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain) are the least successful in doing this.

The report includes 34 countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

editor@romania-insider.com