NEET is an acronym for ‘not in employment, education or training’, used to refer to the situation of many young persons, aged between 15 and 29. The aim of the NEET concept is to broaden understanding of the vulnerable status of young people and to better monitor their problematic access to the labor market.
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
NEETs are more likely to become disenfranchised and suffer from poverty and social exclusion, including a considerable loss in productive capacity at a macroeconomic level.
This problem has been accelerated during the financial crisis of 2008.
Using NEET as a labeling factor can be problematic, due to how broad this world can actually be, considering how broad the terminology can be, a NEET can be a person that’s caring for his grandparents, or parents that are suffering from a disability, that have the potential to be a quality employee, down to children surviving off the well being of their parents, choosing to chase pleasure & non-productive activities all day, such as spending unearned money or simply playing video games without an economic incentive ( such as gaming streamers, or content creators, that produce entertainment through their gaming )
The EU has categorized NEETs in the following brackets :
Year | European Union | Latin America & Caribbean | North America |
2005 | 13.38% | 20.27% | 16.42% |
2006 | 11.89% | 20.02% | 15.50% |
2007 | 10.96% | 19.63% | 15.30% |
2008 | 10.74% | 19.27% | 16.49% |
2009 | 12.37% | 19.89% | 19.07% |
2010 | 12.66% | – | 19.31% |
2011 | 12.76% | 20.03% | 18.39% |
2012 | 13.07% | 19.81% | 18.28% |
2013 | 12.96% | 20.20% | 17.76% |
2014 | 12.57% | 19.77% | 16.51% |
2015 | 12.14% | 20.86% | 15.33% |
2016 | 11.62% | 21.23% | 14.85% |
2017 | 10.95% | 21.45% | 13.71% |
2018 | 10.39% | 21.08% | 13.57% |
2019 | 9.97% | 20.93% | 13.01% |
Source : Data WorldBank
Country | 2011 | 2014 | 2017 | 2020 |
Belgium | 13.8% | 14.1% | 12.6% | 12.0% |
Bulgaria | 25.4% | 24.6% | 19.4% | 18.6% |
Czechia | 12.1% | 12.1% | 10.0% | 11.0% |
Denmark | 8.4% | 8.0% | 9.8% | 10.2% |
Germany | 9.7% | 8.7% | 8.5% | 8.5% |
Estonia | 14.7% | 13.7% | 11.0% | 11.2% |
Ireland | 22.4% | 17.8% | 12.8% | 14.1% |
Greece | 23.0% | 26.7% | 21.3% | 18.7% |
Spain | 20.6% | 20.7% | 16.4% | 17.3% |
France | 12.0% | 13.4% | 13.2% | 13.4% |
Croatia | 19.1% | 21.8% | 17.9% | 14.6% |
Italy | 22.5% | 26.1% | 24.0% | 23.3% |
Cyprus | 14.8% | 19.5% | 17.6% | 15.3% |
Latvia | 19.1% | 15.2% | 12.3% | 11.9% |
Lithuania | 14.7% | 12.9% | 10.2% | 13.0% |
Luxemburg | 6.6% | 6.5% | 6.6% | 7.7% |
Hungary | 15.5% | 14.7% | 11.2% | 12.3% |
Malta | 12.1% | 11.6% | 8.8% | 9.5% |
Netherlands | 5.9% | 7.6% | 5.9% | 5.7% |
Austria | 8.9% | 9.7% | 8.8% | 9.9% |
Poland | 15.2% | 15.5% | 12.9% | 12.9% |
Portugal | 13.9% | 14.6% | 10.6% | 11.0% |
Romania | 19.5% | 19.9% | 17.8% | 16.6% |
Slovenia | 9.4% | 12.9% | 9.3% | 9.2% |
Slovakia | 18.7% | 18.2% | 16.0% | 15.2% |
Finland | 10.0% | 11.8% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
Sweden | 7.9% | 7.8% | 6.8% | 7.2% |
Iceland | 7.6% | 6.9% | 4.1% | 7.0% |
Norway | 6.6% | 7.1% | 6.4% | 6.6% |
Switzerland | 7.9% | 7.7% | 7.2% | 6.3% |
Montenegro | 24.6% | 22.5% | 21.4% | 26.6% |
North Macedonia | 31.6% | 31.9% | 31.1% | 26.2% |
Serbia | – | 25.5% | 21.7% | 20.0% |
Turkey | 32.7% | 28.4% | 27.5% | 32.0% |
Source : EuroStat – Young people neither in employment nor in education and training – annual data
Depending on the bracket that potential employee is placed, a NEET might provide a good output for your business, of course, there are exceptions, such as the privileged ones, which most likely would lack the motivation to work, fortunately, the Conscientiousness from the Big Five Personality Traits can be a good indicator if the employee is fit for your position, in the scenario where the prospective employee was caring for a family member while out of the workforce, she’ll most likely score highly on the Agreeableness trait, it all depends on the position you’re hiring for.
The most important factor is the Neuroticism trait, if the person is simply lacking a sense of purpose, and the job will provide that, most likely the employee’s life will become better, and get over his or her dark thoughts, and move forward to a better life.
Macromanagement might not be a suitable work style if the person requires hands-on experience & guidance, but it depends on the previous experience of the potential hire and current motivations.
To sum it up, NEETs are potentially great employees or very bad ones, it seems like the middle line is blurred, and properly segmenting during your hiring flow will help you pick the right one.
I’m focused on ensuring Enlivy will make it practical to hire people and go through 100’s of candidates with ease, and I cannot wait to leverage the opportunity to get more people in the workforce.
Robert Rusu
I cannot wait for Enlivy to be out there. In the meantime, I'll occasionally blog about topics I find interesting
View articlesGreat managers constantly improve their skill set in order to lead, motivate and encourage their team. This article will detail 7 soft skills every manager needs to improve to build a reliable and productive relationship with employees. Managers with excellent leadership soft skills can boost their team’s productivity, increase loyalty, and help motivate and retain […]
NDAs are commonly used for protecting vital business information; In the following article, we’ll talk about the basics of NDAs and 4 NDA advantages for long-term stability. What is an NDA? A non-disclosure agreement is a legal contract by which one or more parties agree not to reveal confidential information they have shared as a […]
In a market full of competent people, an adequate compensation package will always help you recruit and keep talented individuals. This article will present you 7 salary negotiation tips for employers that you should consider. The goals of salary negotiation A vital component of the onboarding process is determining suitable compensation for a new employee. […]
Underperformance and inefficiency in the workplace will prevent your business from reaching its full potential and should be addressed immediately. Here are a few tips on how to identify underperformance and how to deal with it the right way. A company cannot survive if its employees do not contribute to its success. Individual performance is bound […]
Exit interviews are important in the offboarding procedure; in this article, we'll provide details about exit interviews and present 5 practical exit interview questions that you should ask every time.