Building the Skills for Economic Growth and Competitiveness in Sri Lanka by Halil Dundar; Benoît Millot; Yevgeniya Savchenko; Harsha Aturupane; Tilkaratne A. Piyasiri

Author:Halil Dundar; Benoît Millot; Yevgeniya Savchenko; Harsha Aturupane; Tilkaratne A. Piyasiri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The World Bank

Box 4.1 Soft Skills in Youth Training Programs in Latin American Countries

Youth in many countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region face issues similar to those of youth in Sri Lanka: high unemployment, poor quality of jobs for those who are employed, and higher participation in the informal sector than adults. In response to these problems, countries in the region have implemented a variety of policies and programs, such as job training, career counseling, providing better information about vacancies, support for self-employment, provision of incentives to private firms to hire young people, temporary public sector jobs, and subsidies to unemployed youth.

The overarching goal of job training is to increase the probability of trainees finding formal jobs and improve the quality of employment. Though programs are financed with public funds, at US$400-750 the per capita training costs are relatively low. The programs provide the market-relevant skills that employers demand. Some of the programs provide participants not only with technical training and internships or on-the-job training in firms but also with supplementary classroom soft skills training. For example, participants in Juventud y Empleo in the Dominican Republic receive 75 hours of soft skills training, those in Jovenes en Accion in Colombia clock up to 360 hours of combined technical and soft skills training, and Procajoven in Panama provides 150 hours in training. The courses are designed to enhance such soft skills as social abilities (for example, conflict resolution and teamwork); personal growth (for example, self-esteem and persistence); and communication skills.

While most impact evaluations look at how these programs affect labor market outcomes overall, the preliminary impact evaluation of a randomized experiment in the Dominican Republic youth training program suggests that the soft skills taught in the program combined with work experience improved the labor market outcomes of participants.

Sources: Gonzalez-Velosa, Ripani, and Rosas-Shady 2012; Martinez 2012.

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