Youth unemployment is not just hurting our wallets, its also hurting our confidence
Are you a young person struggling to find work? Many of your elders may have told you that you should try strategies like handing in paper resumés, messaging random people on LinkedIn, or switching industries entirely. You may have tried all of these and more, and still struggled to find work. You’re not alone, and you shouldn’t have to go to such extremes to pay your rent. Hunting for a job shouldn’t be this hard, but we’re being left behind by a government making no effort to reduce unemployment.
Over the past two years I have applied to hundreds of jobs in the fields of policy, administration, academic research, HR, PR, education, communications, and more. I have had a wide variety of my more experienced peers read over my resumé, help me with interview prep, approve of my cover letters, and serve as my references. I have bought new clothes, practiced in the mirror, and rehearsed my answers to prepare for interviews. Regardless of what I have done, I have not been able to escape the retail industry, and I am stuck in the exact same place as I was before I left my small hometown.
For young people like myself, this is not only a hit to our bank accounts, but it is also a severe blow to our confidence and potentially a big setback in our careers.
With over 100,000 jobs lost in the past two months, young adults are suffering more than ever in the unemployment crisis. While data has not been released for October, in September unemployment reached over 7% of the Canadian population, with youth unemployment at a high 14.5%. Do you think those people are happy to be sitting around on tiny unemployment cheques? You’d be wrong. Despite what Doug Ford thinks, they are applying for jobs that, according to theories and allegations about fake job postings,, may not even exist. On top of that, young people who are trying to break into these industries now have to compete with the experienced and well-connected 25-40 year olds who were laid off. To make matters even worse, many companies are too cheap to hire a hiring manager, so AI will be looking over your resumé.
It is not just office-oriented and professional class jobs that are affected by cuts. Many are also struggling to find work in finance, tech, retail, and even industries like construction, manufacturing, and warehousing, especially with the impact of tariffs. The majority of jobs lost in August were part-time jobs, meaning those who can’t find full-time work may not even be able to make it work with 2 part-time jobs.
Time and time again when we face a crisis, workers, especially young workers, are sacrificed so companies and institutions can keep their heads above water.
We are not talking about numbers or expenses in a spreadsheet. We are talking about human beings with bills to pay and families to feed, who are struggling to afford the basic necessities of life: food and shelter.
I am tired of being told to pivot to a different industry, when even many trades sectors are facing job losses. I am tired of being told to network when nearly all of my peers are in the exact same boat right now. And I am incredibly tired of federal and provincial governments turning a blind eye to unemployment as it plagues our entire generation. These leaders are our parents’ age, but they do not seem interested in protecting the future of this nation’s youth. They are only interested in saving their wallets as we scramble for scraps.
Prime Minister Carney’s new program meant to “train 50,000 workers” is not a comfort to anyone— in fact it doesn’t even cover the 66,000 jobs lost in August alone. It is important not only for the workers suffering amidst this crisis, but for the future of our nation that more measures are taken to address the unemployment crisis and create more stable jobs. You cannot have a proud, strong generation of Canadians if their government makes no effort to ensure they have jobs.
