The Transition of Jamaican - International Labour Organisation ...

This question was directed solely to the Not Working Youth. As indicated in
Table 3.1, the main methods used to source jobs were advertisements (36.3 per
cent) and friends (33.0 per cent). Relatives (10.7 per cent) and private employment
agency (10.4 per cent) were next, followed by Government employment
agency at 7.1 per cent.
Table 3.1: Methods Used to Source Jobs by Not Working Youth
Govt.
Employment
Agency
Private
Employment
Agency
Advertisement Friends Relatives Labour
Contractor
Other
Total
7.1 10.4 36.3 33.0 10.7 0.3 2.3 100.0
These responses show that 54.1 per cent of the youth used formal means
(employment agencies or advertisements) to source jobs, while 43.7 per cent
sought jobs through informal means (friends and relatives). This is contrary to the
widely held view that networking is the principal method that is effective for one
to get a job.
Number of Jobs Applied for and Interviews Attended
This information was analysed using all three categories of Out of School youth:
Self-Employed, Employed and Not Working. On average, most youth (54.7 per
cent) applied for 1–2 jobs, with a greater proportion of Self-Employed youth
falling in this category. (Table 3.2) On the other hand, as expected, a larger proportion
of Not Working Youth applied for 3–6, 7–10 and 11+ jobs, when compared
with the two remaining categories of youth.
Table 3.2.: Distribution of Youth by Category and Number of Jobs Applied for (per cent)
Number of Jobs Applied For
Category 1–-2 3–6 7–10 11+ Total
Not Working Youth 43.6 31.1 12.4 12.9 100.0
Employed 56.4 24.4 8.3 10.9 100.0
Self-Employed 64.0 24.0 2.0 10.0 100.0
Average 54.7 26.5 7.6 11.3 100.0
THE TRANSITION OF JAMAICAN YOUTH TO THE WORLD OF WORK
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