Risk factors of young graduates in the competitive E.U. labour market at the end of the current economic crisis

Abstract

Modern development trends in the labour market have been an increasingly important political and economic issue not only domestically but also on the European level. It proves the fact that in The Europe 2020 strategy, one of the main five points is the aim to increase the employment rate of the population (age: 20–64) from the current 69% to at least 75%. Various risk groups of job candidates emerge among the unemployed. The economic crisis in 2007 made the situation in the labour markets worse. The demand for labour decreased while the number of candidates increased. In recent years, fresh graduates under the age of 25 have been regarded as a high risk group sometimes nicknamed “the lost generation” or Generation Y. This generation is well accustomed to modern technologies which they use for their own benefit and they are willing and able to work from anywhere. On the contrary, those over the age of 35, who are sometimes referred to as Generation X, have different attitudes and requirements for the labour market. Despite the increasing level of education among young people, their unemployment has been worsening since the economic crisis began. The aim of this article was to ascertain how future university graduates (491 final-year students from 5 faculties at Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic) perceive individual risk factors influencing the success of today’s graduate of Generation Y in the competitive labour market. The target group, future university graduates, evaluated 13 risk areas on a five-point scale. These 13 risk areas were identified based on primary research among 1.059 employers in the Czech Republic, which is a part of a complete two-year research project IGA/FaME/2013/030. This article focuses on only two areas which closely analysed the perception of graduates as drifters, and their demands for high starting salaries. These two risk areas were mentioned by employers as the areas with the highest risk and therefore, these areas are examined in detail by the future graduates. A partial conclusion of this study indicated that future graduates, in comparison with the initial risk factor of high turnover, see much higher risk in their inability to solve problems, high initial costs of training or a lack of independence. It is the opinion of graduates, how these factors see the employers. On the other hand, graduates consider a lack of IT knowledge or few ideas/suggestions for improvement and innovation as less risky as high turnover.