Mutual Expectations of Employers and Employees as a Factor Affecting Employability

Abstract

Employability of youth is a complex issue that involves social, economic, educational, health and other aspects, including preparedness of young people for working life. The issue of the mutual expectations of employers and young people as employees has not been widely studied in Latvia. This study highlights the main problem areas: mutual harmonization of expectations regarding the culture in the work environment; conditions in the work environment, technology, innovation, competences, financial resources, as well as young person's capacity and harmonization of personal goals with the employer’s aims. In Latvia, at the end of 2014, there were 9351 young unemployed people between 15-24 years old. The problem of unemployment can be associated with a number of factors such as young people’s poor health; inadequate accessibility of health care; lack of assistance in improvement of wellbeing; difficulties with housing; poverty; young people’s lack of skills and competences and preparedness for working life, as well as other employability aspects, such as cooperation between a young person as an employee and the employer, as well as the disjunct between their mutual expectations. The objective of the study was to study the mutual expectations of the employer and a young person as an employee. The main findings of the study reveal the major problems in this field which relate to the non-fulfillment of mutual expectations in the working environment, work conditions, IT, innovations, competences, financial resources and personal capacity of the youth, as well as the coordination of young people's personal aims with employers’ priorities and requirements.