The COVID-19 pandemic will impact all generations, including Millennials and Gen Zers, and there is growing anxiety for these youth on what the future holds with a likely global recession. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigerian youth unemployment increased from 14.5% in 2015, to 26.6% in 2017 after the recession. It is, therefore, crucial to understand how the pandemic will affect youth to implement efficient interventions for our largest workforce population.
Nigeria’s Gen Z
The oldest in this generation will be turning 23 this year, and while some have already joined the workforce, a significant number of those with tertiary education will be graduating and looking to find jobs soon. These youth will be faced with harsh realities, as companies downsize and freeze recruitment efforts. For the Gen Zers in low-income communities, there is a risk that they will be left behind, especially in education and access to digital solutions, as the world adopts more technical solutions.
Nigeria’s Millennials
Millennials recently experienced a recession between 2016 and 2017. Now, these millennials face job and financial security risks which might lead to stress on this population. Surges in layoffs and downsizing will increase unemployment and pay cuts, especially for millennials with junior roles. Older millennials aged 39 and younger might already have families or planning to start families, and anxiety might grow on their ability to cater for their households.
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Finally, millennials can view and analyze the impact of the virus and responses in other countries through social media, and global media outlets. Thus, allowing them to understand the benefits and limitations of their government’s strategies. Ideally, this will help build more disaster-ready leaders than older generations in the coming years. Additionally, millennials have been vocal on social media and are not afraid to address both the good and bad elements of governance in Nigeria. Thus, millennials will constantly set comparative standards when assessing the measures taken to soften the impact of COVID-19. Consequently, policies that do not address key issues will not go unnoticed.
What now?
To address early COVID-19 impacts, Nigeria will need to increase youth employment programmes such as Technical and Vocational Education and Trainings (TVETs) through private and social sector partnerships. Additionally, Africa is set to have the largest youth workforce by 2050, and Nigeria will play a pivotal role in preparing most of these youth. Our population presents a unique opportunity as China’s youth population reduces, and countries aim to shift production reliance on China. However, our youth population might be a ticking time bomb that will lead to an unprecedented employment crisis without proper preparation. We must increase investments in education to close skill gaps and drive entrepreneurship. We must also invest in driving sectors with high youth employability such as agriculture, trade, and manufacturing. Finally, we must strengthen the capacity of marginalised and enabling sectors like arts & entertainment, and ICT.
