As a new report suggests over 12% of young people in Ireland are unemployed, one hotelier believes there is a 'snobbery' around applying for certain types of jobs. 

According to a Grant Thornton report, the unemployment rate has hit its highest peak in the past three years. One aspect of this report highlighted that 12.2% of young people are currently unemployed. 

Louis Copeland is the owner of Louis Copeland and Sons and is in the retail sector. He told The Pat Kenny Show that young people’s attitudes have changed around working since the pandemic. 

“It has become the norm that you only have to go in two days and work from home three days.

“The best education [young people] will ever get is to work on the floor, in a pub, in hospitality, in retail,” as Mr Copeland believes these jobs help develop social skills and problem-solving skills. 

Unemployment & young people

Businesswoman Lorraine Sweeney is in the hospitality business and recognises that change of attitude towards working amongst the younger generation in recent years, but she attributes this to a higher level of education and social standards.

“95% [of young people] go to secondary school and  [are high achievers] and about 63% go to college,” she says. 

“There’s a snob level attached to what job somebody wants to apply for.

“Highly educated people will not do the blue-collar jobs. 

“They don’t want to wash the pots or clean the bedrooms, they want to be off on a Friday evening” Ms. Sweeney said. 

Declan Keenan is a youth worker from Just Ask and echoes Mr. Copeland’s thoughts that young people are still facing the effects of Covid: 

“I don’t think there’s been enough investment into these young people that have gone through that pandemic phase and it definitely has affected them.

“It’s the employers who want these young people, so maybe [they should] contact schools and say 'I’m willing to take three or four CVs,'” he says. 

He believes that young people have suffered socially from the pandemic and that this has led to their hesitance in taking up work. 

“Genuinely, these young people have lost skills that they desperately need. They spend a lot of time of their phones and they’re not interacting faceto-face  with people and that's the reality that they’re facing.” 

He also believes that the overall sentiment to working for young people is quite negative.

“They’re being told that even if you’re working in a highly paid job - you’re not going to be able to afford a house.

“A lot of young people don’t even know where to begin or what a CV is.”

Written by Cara McHugh.