Based on desk research, interviews, and exploratory surveys, this study goes beyond the numbers to examine the drivers of youth unemployment and its related issues in Colombia. The findings tell a story of simultaneous successes and frustrations, as well as encouraging collaborations and disappointing missed opportunities. For Colombia to fully realize its potential as an emerging economy, it must bring together multiple sectors to rebalance its labor market while training, educating, and motivating its youth to compete in its rapidly globalizing economy.
In various areas of Colombia, access to and quality of the education system are significant barriers to employment. As has been voiced by employers around the world, the private sector in Colombia feels that the education system is not teaching Colombia’s youth the skills needed for employment. This skills deficit is evidenced by Colombia’s scores on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Focusing on reading, mathematics, science, and problem solving, PISA assesses 15-year-old students’ knowledge and practical skills. In math, reading, and science, Colombian youth scored at the bottom of ranked countries, on par with Qatar, Indonesia, and Peru. More worrisome was that Colombia also scored poorly in terms of equity in education.
A report recently published by Endeavor revealed that a huge proportion of Colombia’s job creation is coming from ‘scaleup companies’ that are more than three years old, but still relatively small in size. These companies make up 8 percent of total companies yet were responsible for 45 percent of new job creation over the past three years. As these companies are all the results of recent entrepreneurship efforts, it is clear that entrepreneurship is vital for job creation.