Development Of Youth Employability Issues By Volunteerism Approaches

There is a global warning signal regarding youth employability, with an estimate of a quarter of world youth population – i.e. 290 million youth aged 15 – 25 years old included in the NEETs (“not in education, employed or in training†) category. Last data provided by EUROSTAT in 2022 shows that Romania have almost 20% of its 15 – 29 years old youth as NEETs (19.8%). This percent is almost double compared to EU average of 11.7%. Therefore, a lot of effort was invested into funding special programs and projects aiming at increasing qualification, professional skills and education levels in youth. Between 2007 – 2015 more than 62% of the budget allocation targeting youth in general and NEETs youth in particular (Priority Axe 2 – Improve the Situation of Youth from NEETs Category), as part of the financial exercise for Romania, came from the Social European Fund, and the impact of this investment has not been assessed, yet (QURES, 2016, pp. 39). Volunteerism, though, as a means of gaining necessary skills and competences needed to find a job on the labour market, is often disregarded, although there are studies and initiatives that show there is a correlation between volunteerism, competences and increased employability chances, thus, underlining the economic capital volunteerism brings. The current article proposes to analyse the importance of volunteerism in increasing employability chances in youth in general, NEETs youth in particular, through comparative data showcase and examples from various countries, coming from practice and literature review, including Romania’s efforts in this regard.