According to a survey, young adults aged under 30 years are currently experiencing a heightened sense of anxiety amid everlasting restrictions and unemployment. This is translating into growing resentment among younger adults against their older counterparts, who may be economically sound and hold greater power.

Andrea Garnero

Andrea Garnero, labour market economist at the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs of the OECD, re-tweeted an article on how the how the kids of today are losing out because of endless restrictions and unemployment. According to a Financial Times survey, there is growing resentment among people under their 30s as the pandemic disallows activities to resume and people to step out.

The survey further revealed a heightened sense of anxiety among the young adults, who now feel confined because of the growing pandemic. Many of them felt like they had returned to home-schooling, with no interactions, nowhere to go and no extracurriculars. Many had even converted their four-bedroom apartments into a gym, bakery, or food hall.

As per reports, the US has the highest share of young adults, aged between 18 to 29 years, living at home. And although they are at a lesser risk of contracting the disease, data reveals that young adults and students are suffering more than others from the economic fallout caused by the pandemic.

Diane Coyle

Diane Coyle, an economist and a professor of public policy at the University of Cambridge, re-tweeted a discussion on how UK’s Covid response money should be spent to shape the future of the economy, as well as the environment. The discussion between economists Diane Coyle and Dr Matthew Agarwala, highlighted some key findings from the Wealth Economy report that revealed that UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic stood at over $397bn, and over $13 trillion across the globe. Economists believe that these funds should be invested in a resilient recovery.

The discussion further emphasised on the areas that governments should spend on. For instance, governments’ economic recovery plan should be focused at investments in public funds and in people’s health and skills to deliver the ‘levelling up’ agenda.

The report further highlighted that governments’ spending should be focused at geographical inequalities such as improving people’s access to education, nature, employment that directly impact the productivity and potential of individuals.

Howard Archer

Howard Archer, the chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, a non-governmental economic forecasting group, shared an article on how a McKinsey study highlights Britain’s growing skills shortage over the upcoming decade as the Covid-19 pandemic splits the job market. The UK will have to retrain and reskill its workers to brace the shift to a digitally driven economy, the article noted.

The analysis further reported that approximately 94% of the workforce lacked the skills required in 2030. The coronavirus pandemic has skewed the job market in one direction, which has led to a skills shortage in supply chain analytics and ecommerce fields, while low-skilled jobs are lost and less likely to return.

Consequently, job insecurities have increased for those involved in sales, retail, restaurants and hotel businesses, which usually hires part-time or younger workers. The report stated that one-third of the workforce lacked basic digital skills required by 2030, and that over 10 million people were unskilled to take up any communication, decision-making or leadership roles.

https://twitter.com/HowardArcherUK/status/1328615887113498624