To Stay or to Leave-The Dilemma of the Future

By Zamira Cavo

The dilemma that the young people have today:” to stay or to go abroad to find work”, is for our country the dilemma of the future. Will we be able to regenerate enough resources for the future of Albania or Albania will become e resource for foreigners?

This treatment of the problem seems paradoxical, but in fact it is one of the major problems among adults in our society.

Why do I say this? Albania has two major resources for its development in the future, resources that other countries would envy. The first is our geographical environment, but also geopolitical. Natural resources make the country "rich" in the future. Secondly; the source of human capital is at the peak of the bloom. Albania is the country with the youngest population in Europe, and that is why for a long time its workforce, its human resources, will be the greatest possibility of the country development.

Thus, for both these reasons, youth employment, keeping them here, is a major problem for Albanian politics.

But why do I say "keeping them here"?

Today, having a young population is a great privilege for the European countries that are moving rapidly towards their aging populations. That is why the need for young people is great from these countries.

On the other hand; in the era of globalization, where the free movement enables young people new routes abroad and also employment translated into considerable material value, the fact that young people educated and skilled leave the country, becomes an inevitable phenomenon. So, there is a huge contradiction between the attraction that other countries make to young human resources and the need to use them within the country. These two forces in the future will act with more force, will define the resolution of the dilemma treated above: How will we be able, as a society, as a political governance, to create for the young people and especially for the talents a friendly and warm climate, somehow the same with the one that the World offers? !!!!

For both reasons, the need for such Policies to favor the stay in Albania of the young people who are here, but also of those who have studied abroad, becomes very important. The world has no longer the luxury to dislodge from their place the young peopel! Especially us, we don’t have this luxury.

I think that despite the huge problems that our country has, the focus especially on talented young people is an objective obligation of society.

What should be done:

• The first objective has to do with the recognition of the real situation. Today, in Albania there are not any accurate data to enable us to know how many students are studying abroad, how many of them have finished their studies and where they are. How many young Albanians are employed abroad, in important institutions, in the academic world, in important international bodies. Even though we have discussed a lot about the importance of attracting young people in Albania, again we have let only a few NGOs to study the situation. Accurate data and a major project for all this group of young people studying abroad are needed. Having a database close to reality we will also know how to build real policies to offer these young people our options.

  In this context, we need to stop at the instruments that enable the detection of talents. The world uses such instruments since a long time. We have left it to spontaneity. Therefore I appreciate very much this project that helps a little bit to create a cognitive environment for these young people. Competitions, websites, calls for projects, the help of youth organizations in the world, the creation of their networks, are undoubtedly an important step that enables the recognition of the situation.

  The second objective has to do with the creation of a youth-friendly environment .This means to restore the confidence of young people for their future. We must do everything in order for them to feel good and to understand that society has them in the spotlight. Because reality tells us:

  Only for the last quarter of the year 2013 it turns out that:

  The male unemployment in the third quarter of 2013 is close to 19%, while for women at the rate of 13.4%. Even more disturbing are the data for the age group from 15 to 29 years old, where over 30% of men and nearly 22% of women are unemployed.

  So the unemployment rate among young people is very high.

  In Albania, middle age people are less endangered by unemployment. The reason for this is a kind of professional sustainability and political engagement. But if we add to this fact the need to raise the retirement age, the risk of unemployment among young people, which of course are inexperienced, increases. For this reason, it becomes necessary the need to create confident and hopeful environment for young people. This requires sustainable policies dealing with life and living conditions of young people. There is a need to regenerate some social policies that create opportunities for the young people. A warm social environment, an opportunity given for “spending time in a smart way” decreased to 40% the feeling of insecurity among the young people. This means that with these policies for creating friendly environment, significantly decreases the "desire" to abandon the country.

  The third objective has to do with finding a new approach between their education and labor market need. Professions and vocational education takes a priority in all policy of reducing youth unemployment but also in finding talents. A professional and contemporary education enables an overhaul of the labor market. But it takes time and a lot of work to approach young people to professions. There is a way that is left out of the daily attention. "I met a talent" should be the motto of a comprehensive movement. With all the instruments available, we must orientate young people toward the idea: Nowadays the talent prevails on every other need! A talented young man who has where to show his hobbies and talents, who is encouraged to work in this field(according to studies), has ten times more opportunities than a common young person with a long educational qualification. Young people need to understand that today it is not worth a diploma, but the talent to find your place in today's world, global and digital.