Poll: Do you think apprenticeships could ease Ireland's youth unemployment rate?

THE LATEST UNEMPLOYMENT figures from the Central Statistics Office show that youth unemployment slightly increased in January.

While Ireland’s unemployment levels remain relatively low at 4.8%, the unemployment figures for those aged between 15 and 24 years rose from 11.1% in December to 11.8% last month.

Pawel Adrjan, economist at Indeed, called the youth unemployment rate of 11.8% “high” and said that “with the economy performing strongly, the new Government should aim to support a strong labour market with opportunities for all sectors of society”. 

Alan McQuaid, independent economist referred to the figures as “elevated” in a brief published yesterday and said there should be more government initiatives put in place for training, education and upskilling.

“There is clearly a problem about the number of jobs available for school leavers and new graduates from college,” he said, adding that there should be “more encouragement in second-level” for students to do apprenticeships.

Last month, Fora reported on some new apprenticeships that are coming available due to a government overhaul of the system in 2016 – school leavers now have the option to train as CGI wizards or sous chefs, thanks to some of the new programmes.

Keeping this in mind, Fora is asking our readers this week: Do you think more apprenticeships could ease Ireland’s youth unemployment rate?