Santa Cruz de Tenerife 25 Feb. (Europa Press) –
Young people from the Canaries rank among the most pessimistic in Spain regarding their employment prospects, with 49% believing that the job market will deteriorate over the next five years. This is highlighted in the ‘XX Report Young Business Talents: The Perspective of Young People’, which focuses on the sentiments and trends of Spanish pre-university youth, conducted by Abanca, Esic University, Herbalife, and Praxis MMT.
In this context, 31.1% expect the situation to remain unchanged, while merely 19.9% are optimistic about improvement in employment opportunities.
“The youth’s opinions are reflective of their current experiences, marked by increased instability and a decline in working conditions. They perceive that the economic and labour landscape will worsen,” explains Nuño Nogués, director of the ‘XX Young Business Talent Report: The Perspective of Young People’.
Despite their bleak outlook for youth employment, 60.5% of students in the Canary Islands are hopeful of securing a job within a year of graduation.
“Interestingly, this perception does not align with their views on the broader employment landscape, suggesting that young people have faith in their capabilities,” adds Nuño Nogués.
When asked about critical factors in securing employment, knowledge (46.9%) and a solid academic record (36%) were deemed most important.
The Canary Islands is among the autonomous communities where young people show the highest inclination to pursue higher education (70.6% compared to the national average of 65.1%); 15% remain undecided on whether to continue their studies, while 14.3% have no intention of advancing their education.
Within those desiring to undertake a university degree, the fields that attract the most interest are business/economics (29.7%), marketing/advertising (22.5%), and education (22.5%).
The primary motivation (71.3%) for choosing a career is a personal passion, followed by career prospects (56.9%) and salary (41.3%).
Regarding the relevance of their studies, 74.1% believe that what they are learning will be beneficial in their professional lives.
According to the findings of this report, aimed at pre-university students studying 4th year, 1st and 2nd year of high school, and basic, intermediate, and advanced cycles of vocational training, 9 out of 10 young individuals think that artificial intelligence will transform the world as we know it.
Furthermore, they are among the most sceptical about the effect of AI on employment, with 83.9% believing it will have a negative impact and lead to job losses.
In light of the considerable number of young individuals utilising AI for their work, experts are raising alarms about the potential hazards associated with the use of artificial intelligence tools by youth.
“In utilising AI, they risk becoming mere imitators who replicate what the AI suggests, losing their critical thinking skills and possibly their ability to grasp concepts. They do not scrutinise what they copy, they do not seek diverse sources or make comparisons, nor do they form their own opinions—they simply present what the AI states, which they assume is accurate,” the report’s director explains.
Over half engage with artificial intelligence
Relating to the youth’s engagement with AI, slightly more than half (55.2%) utilise artificial intelligence for their assignments; 20.3% express interest but do not engage due to lack of understanding of its functions, 13.3% use it merely for entertainment, while 11.2% show no interest in artificial intelligence topics.
In terms of preparedness, 74.5% of Canary pre-university students feel they are better equipped than their parents, ranking just below the youth from Aragon (80.8%), and above the national average (68.5%).
“Overall, it can be stated that the educational level of young people surpasses that of their parents, which likely contributes to a sense of being better prepared,” Nuño Nogués remarks.
Concerning the specific knowledge of young people compared to their parents, “they are more proficient in skills such as digital literacy, audiovisual communication, and other related areas,” he notes.
However, it’s essential to highlight that “despite their higher educational achievements and better preparation in certain fields, there are others where they are objectively less prepared, such as reading comprehension, mathematics, grammar, or cultural knowledge,” the report’s director adds.
Additionally, young individuals are optimistic about the quality of employment they can attain, with 76.9% believing they can achieve better jobs than their parents.
“This perception primarily stems from their enhanced preparedness compared to their parents, and to a lesser degree, the expectation that the nature of their future roles will be more sophisticated. Given the proportion of young people wishing to start their own ventures, they appear quite convinced of their ability to develop successful projects,” Nogués states.
Regarding their relationship with and perception of teachers, a significant majority (85.7%) of young individuals respect their educators, while only 2.1% feel utterly disrespected.
Lack of respect for educators
These statistics stand in stark contrast to the views of educators reported in the ‘VIII Young Business Talents Report: The Teacher’s Perspective’, which emphasises that one of their primary challenges is the lack of respect they experience, the absence of authority, and insufficient support from families.
“It is logical that they hold differing views, whether because the youth fail to acknowledge the challenges faced by teachers,” Nogues observes.
In terms of their desired future professional activities, young Canarians, alongside Andalusians, are the most inclined to pursue public service roles (26.9%), followed by aspirations to become entrepreneurs (22.4%) or to work within a company (10.8%).
The sectors most favoured by these young individuals for entrepreneurial ventures are education/training (15.9%), sports (11.2%), and commerce (10.6%).
The primary motivation for pre-university students to engage in entrepreneurship is to execute a project they find appealing and work in fields they are genuinely passionate about; additional motivations include being their own boss, seeking greater opportunities, and potential for higher earnings, as explained by Nogués.
When considering the possibility of relocating abroad for employment, 74.1% of young Canarians are inclined to do so, making it the third community with the highest willingness to move, trailing only Aragon (77.6%) and Catalonia (76.8%).
Although this percentage is significant, “it is noteworthy that in the past year this has declined. This is less about economic or labour issues and more about emotional considerations or personal interests; they are increasingly inclined to seek new experiences or demonstrate stronger attachments to their surroundings,” Nogues remarks.
The primary reasons for considering emigration include the desire for new experiences (39.9%), a lack of opportunities in Spain (25.9%), the quest for better salaries (20.6%), and the intention to learn languages (10.1%).
