The dreamt job

“The ultimate reference of every human activity can only be the human person created in the image and likeness of God”; therefore “every human activity should be an occasion and place for the growth of individuals and society”, said BENEDICT XVI , in his message to the 9th International Youth Forum that the Pontifical Council for the Laity recently promoted at Rocca di Papa (near Rome) on “Witnesses of Christ in the world of work”. Over 300 delegates aged between 20 and 35, from a hundred or so different counties and all involved in the Church and in the world of work, participated in the Forum. Referring to the transformations that “have radically changed the character and conditions of the labour market”, the Pope pointed out “the disturbing forms of marginalisation and exploitation” that at times these changes create in the young. The Holy Father therefore encouraged “the need to evaluate the human dimension of work and protect the dignity of the person”. Recalling what he had said in his Message for World Youth Day, he ended: “It is not simply a question of becoming more ‘competitive’ and ‘productive’, but it is necessary to be ‘witnesses of charity'”. COMPLEX MARKET . One finding that clearly emerged from the Forum is that unemployment and precariousness, albeit with differences from one country to another, distinguish the relationship of European youth with the labour market, which “presents profiles of high complexity and contradictory aspects”. According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), the unemployment rate of young people below the age of 25 in 2005 was 37% in Poland, 30% in Slovakia, and 25% in Greece. In Denmark, by contrast, only 8% of youth were out of work; and 9% in Ireland and Switzerland. “The entry of the young into the European labour market is difficult – points out the OECD -: their average rate of unemployment is more than double (17.9%) that of the adult population (7.7% of the over-25s)”. The gender imbalances are also strong: “in spite of the fact that girls do better in studies than boys, they run a higher risk of finding themselves unemployed and are more exposed to the risk of poverty”. The EU has dedicated “directives and recommendations” not only to the question of unemployment, but also to the qualification and re-training of youth, to avert the risk of “their level of education and professional skills failing to meet the demands of a rapidly changing market”. A further objective to pursue is “the easing of the transition from training to work”. According to the OECD, at the end of his/her training an Irish youth takes on average 13.2 months to find a first job, in contrast to 14.6 months for a Danish youth and 18 for a German. The greatest difficulties are encountered by young people in France (24.3 months) and Italy (25.5). ONE’S OWN TALENTS. In seeking a job, “it’s not enough to consider the pay, the professional level or the possibilities of making a career”, explained MARGUERITE CHEVREUIL , expert in human resources and professor at the University of Paris, in her address to the Youth Forum: what matters more is “using to the best one’s own talents; it is this criterion that permits the choice of a suitable profession through which a young person can fulfil him/herself”. In Chevreuil’s view, “at the start of every career” it is essential “to be aware not only of one’s own limitations but also of one’s own qualities” which, if suitably developed, can be transformed “into real professional skills”. The second step consists in “matching one’s own talents to the conditions/possibilities of access to the chosen profession” with a view to “verifying whether the projects formulated are realistic”. In the construction of “a truly European curriculum” Chevreuil suggests “proceeding by stages, formulating short-term and long-term projects to guide one’s way to the dreamt-of profession”. “ ORA ET LABORA” . Unifying professional and Christian life: the question was tackled by Bishop GREGOR MARIA HANKE of Eichstätt, in Bavaria, and Benedictine abbot. In Benedict’s rule, he explained, “the life of prayer is the opus dei that is composed in the liturgy of the hours and the Eucharist, but work is its natural complement”. Since all men “reflect the creation in every aspect of their life”, each “professional activity is the continuation of the creative activity of God”. “Bearing witness to Christ” is “doing good in one’s surrounding environment”, and there’s a need to “establish a pastoral ministry of work in our countries where it does not yet exist”, said the President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Monsignor STANISLAW RYLKO , in summing up the proposals of the delegates in his concluding remarks. “Being Christians implies coherence and unity between faith and life”, especially in the face of the “schizophrenia that leads us no longer to know whom we are”. “Turn to account the membership of your associations and communities – he exhorted the young -, to show how fine it is to be Christians in the world of work and to bring Christ into it, in spite of precariousness, difficulties and exclusion”.