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PHOTO'S BY PIERRE MICHEL VIROT

The Middle East

Millennials'Dilemma

A symmetrical, yet unpleasant statistic about the youth employee age in a typical company tends to be a number
in the Middle East reads as follows: 30% of the popula- of years higher than its counterpart in the West. This
tion is under 30 years of age (commonly referred to as clogging of the system at the top and middle ranks tends
millennials) and 30% of the female amongst them are to stop the inflow at the bottom of the hierarchy.
unemployed. The men are in somewhat better situation
with 21% being unemployed; still a large number, by any Another factor is the mismatch between supply and de-
standards. Figures quoted from the most recent available mand. Since higher education is largely private, funded
study by the United Nations. by the youth families, the parents in general and the fa-
ther in particular tend to have the final say as to what
This does not read well at all. In the West, employers have the young person can and cannot study at university. Tra-
been going through major cultural change in order to ditionally, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, civil engineers
attract and accommodate the Millennials (by changing and architects are considered serious subjects to invest
working hours, introducing gig-economy, actively adopt- in. Everything else is seen as a poor second best. But the
ing value-based business practices and trying to close the market can only absorb so many of these disciplines and
gender gap pay. However, similar examples in the Middle the demand for software engineers, accountants, HR spe-
East are barely on any employer's agenda. So, why con- cialists, actuaries, underwriters, is left unserved. So, grad-
sidering the sluggish economic growth in the region, do uates find themselves with three uncomfortable choices:
governments and employers not take advantage of this a) stay at home until a break comes from somewhere; b)
highly educated, principled and hard-working group, retrain in a discipline that is in demand at additional cost
leaving them on the side of the track while the slow eco- and time; or c) leave home and work abroad somewhere.
nomic train chugs along at a snail pace? Nowadays, a humble Bachelor of Science or Arts is no
longer sufficient so, most graduates carry on studying for
To be honest, nobody knows for sure why. However, we a Masters' degree or even a PhD in order to improve their
can hazard a guess or two. Here is my take on it, and you chances of getting on the first step of the career ladder.
may disagree or agree with me, it is my personal opinion
based on observations over the last 10 years I spent in A third reason is the most complex and obscure of them
close proximity to a number of businesses in the region. all. Most businesses in the Middle East are family owned
To begin with, the alpha male syndrome still prevails. Just and run. Therefore, the best and most attractive jobs go
as in politics, people in commerce cling on to their jobs to family and friends because nepotism is accepted and
and positions of authority for far too long. So, the average even respected in this region. So, far from meritocracy,

8 DIVA - INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT