Increasing Digital Platform Use to Help Youth Find Work

Abstract

Young people face myriad obstacles in finding work, and more than 71 million are unemployed globally. Many of these youth have limited job search skills, poor labor market information, and difficulty accessing jobs, obstacles more pronounced for marginalized youth and first-time work-seekers. Digital professional platforms may give some youth a more effective way to find work than traditional job search strategies. In this brief, the authors explore digital professional platform use in developing economies. They then present evidence on low-cost ways to teach youth to use these platforms. The authors end by drawing policy implications for the education and workforce development field.