- 20 hours ago
Whether in China, Kenya or Germany, young people struggle to find jobs, prospects, and recognition. Five stories show how they're using creativity, protest, and courage to discover new paths in a changing world of work.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00How happy are you as a young adult?
00:09Happiness researchers are sounding the alarm.
00:12Young people around the world are unhappier than ever.
00:15They're now more worried, stressed out and depressed than they used to be.
00:20One reason why, excessive social media use.
00:24Girls are suffering due to constant comparison with unrealistic ideal body shapes.
00:30Other reasons include fear of climate change and restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:37Worries about finding a job, old age poverty, rising debt and housing shortages are also causing dissatisfaction.
00:45But the economy needs the young generation.
00:47Youth unemployment? That's today's topic on MADE.
00:54What do young people in Kenya, Bangladesh and Nepal have in common?
01:08They're unhappy.
01:10With too few jobs and government corruption, Gen Z is taking to the streets.
01:15We all share a global frustration, a sense of understanding where we see that our governments are not doing enough or our governments are working against us.
01:27The youth, they don't have a route to proper employment and then they have to leave the country.
01:33And if they're in the country, then they don't have jobs and there's a lot of frustration.
01:39And that frustration has been boiling over.
01:42In 2024, protests by young people helped to topple the government in Bangladesh and this year in Nepal.
01:49In Kenya, the protests ended in bloodshed.
01:52Are there lessons to be learned here?
01:54Everyday life did return quickly enough in the capital of Bangladesh,
01:58but the legacy of the protests is still visible in Dhaka.
02:02What was the source of so much anger among young students here?
02:07The system was not fair.
02:09Qualified people were not getting government jobs and the safety and security that comes with government jobs are very lucrative.
02:16And that was the issue that triggered the whole situation.
02:19But it went into a violent protest when the government forces or the political forces attacked on them.
02:25And it's a similar scenario in many other countries on different continents, too.
02:30Last year, a new budget proposal in Kenya sparked outrage, although high prices were not the only issue.
02:38It was about taxes that were to be increased on different things, but mostly on the basic needs, you know, like food,
02:46on things like sanitary products, you know, for women and girls.
02:49We already have a huge population of women and girls that cannot afford this and you want to increase these prices.
02:55There was also about medicine, you know, about hospitals, about health care.
03:00People are going to hospitals and being turned away, and you don't have money to pay out of pocket.
03:06Back in Asia, tensions escalated dramatically in Nepal in early September,
03:11with protests erupting due to a government ban on social media platforms.
03:15The resulting crackdown by security forces left dozens of people dead and prompted the prime minister to resign.
03:22The youth in these countries, often they are educated, but under-employed.
03:30They feel that they are paying the prices for systematic failures,
03:35while a small elite or political, you know, class reaps the reward of the growth that we have been seeing.
03:42The problems are familiar ones everywhere.
03:45Stagnant wages, too few jobs, high inflation, and housing shortages.
03:50And corruption is also rampant.
03:53In a global survey of 180 countries, Bangladesh ranks particularly poorly in 151st place,
04:00with Nepal and Kenya not much better.
04:03For Ashraf Ulalum Khan and his fellow students, corruption is indeed a massive issue for his generation.
04:10We had structural barriers, and it was not easy to come up with new ideas in Bangladesh.
04:17It was not easy to start something new because of the bureaucratic red taps and everything, the corruption and all.
04:22So I think the economy will bounce back very soon if we can check the corruption part, because that ends everything.
04:30He's applying for jobs now before even having graduated, due to the tough situation that might well await him.
04:37As a student of social science, we always have the option to work in humanitarian projects, especially the NGOs and INGOs in Bangladesh.
04:44But with the global context in mind, the fundings are being loosened and we have challenges there as well.
04:52He's one of many young people who are thinking about leaving the country.
04:56And brain drain is a growing problem for Kenya and Nepal, too.
05:00An additional factor here is that human capital flight also makes the domestic economy more dependent on the income the people send back home.
05:08Nepal being a good example.
05:10While five years ago, remittances amounted to over 8 billion U.S. dollars.
05:15By 2024, that figure had more than trebled to almost 29 billion.
05:19Nepal's over-reliance on remittance and weak job creation combined with poor education system,
05:25mismatched skills and policy inconsistency created a perfect strength.
05:31Political instability could lead to cutting off the channels of remittance.
05:36In the most extreme case, exchange rate changes could interfere with real transfers of resources back home.
05:44And dissatisfaction.
05:46I mean, imagine if a large number of expatriates earning and sending money back home suddenly became disaffected because of these movements,
05:57maybe because they support them and maybe they're against repression of young people.
06:02Another big issue is purchasing power.
06:05While real wages in Bangladesh were increasing slightly a few years ago, more recently they've been in decline and fell by almost 2% in 2024.
06:15What needs to happen in these countries for the situation to improve?
06:20What the politicians can do is they can focus more on, well, the practical stuff,
06:27keeping inflation down, keeping prices of essentials under control.
06:32But at the same time, they can work on developing their infrastructure, building jobs.
06:38That's the medium and long-term plan.
06:40Which echoes what Ashraf ul Alum Khan says too, feeling that things are changing too slowly for young people.
06:47So, did taking to the streets even help?
06:50And what hope does he have for his country?
06:53Right now my main concern is the overall transformation and where we are standing as a nation.
07:02And as a student, I am very unsure about the fundamental reforms and what are we expecting because the things are very unclear.
07:10And I see that like millions are there, we are very confused and we are not clearly seeing what's going to happen to our nation.
07:18With graduation a few months away, he's already job-seeking and not just in Bangladesh.
07:24He would love to stay in his country, but if no suitable positions are available, he'd be prepared to join the brain drain abroad.
07:32Maybe he could end up at a Berlin startup. Innovative, flexible, no fear of failure.
07:42That's how many young people from all over the world enter the startup scene in Berlin.
07:47But the really big boom is over.
07:502024 saw a record number of insolvencies. Is Berlin really still an important startup metropolis?
08:01At one time, Berlin's tech startup hub was a powerful magnet, attracting skilled migrants from all over the world.
08:07But global challenges and Germany's own struggles have dimmed the spark of Berlin startups.
08:12The city that used to be called poor and sexy ten years back is no longer at ease, it's not poor.
08:19Maybe the people are, but then the cost of living is quite high now.
08:23Startups face challenges, as do the migrants who drive much of Berlin's ecosystem.
08:28One of the major challenges that immigrant entrepreneurs will face is about paperwork and language.
08:34Job listings are declining. Some are migrating once again. Others have reasons to stay.
08:40We are expecting a baby. You don't really consider to move into another country because things will be more difficult for my family members.
08:49What happened to Berlin's startups? Can the city rekindle the flame? Let's ask the professionals in the tech scene.
08:56Born in Afghanistan and raised in Pakistan, Imal moved to Germany in 2015 after being granted a scholarship in machine learning.
09:04He couldn't wait to move to Berlin.
09:06So when I was in Koblenz, Berlin was attractive not only because of the English-speaking city, but also because it's a startup hub of Europe.
09:17And Borak came to Berlin after finding a job in his field.
09:21When I moved in 2019, I was super excited. Also, like, the scene was very lively.
09:27Berlin is home to around 3.7 million people and nearly one in four residents is indeed a foreigner.
09:35Among the foreign residents, the largest communities come from Turkey, Ukraine, Poland, Syria and India.
09:42To earning her MBA in India, Harsha moved to Berlin in 2015.
09:46Throughout her career, she has already worked with 200 startups.
09:50What could be Berlin's unique selling proposition, let's call it, for the founders is the depth and diversity of the talent force.
09:57There is a lot of big migrant communities, and they are very risk friendly.
10:01They are bringing their culture, they're bringing their insights into international markets here.
10:06So speaking of three biggest challenges in Berlin for immigrant entrepreneurs.
10:12Legal things, housing, it's very hard to find an apartment.
10:16And the third one is economy.
10:18The economy is having a very bad downturn right now, created a lot of challenges for entrepreneurs to raise capital.
10:25Unfortunately, one of my startups, VoiceKit, had to go through the same problem.
10:30We couldn't raise more capital and had to liquidate it.
10:35In 2024, Berlin saw a 27% increase in insolvencies compared to 2023.
10:42Previously, it was still a little bit easier for foreigners to get early stage money based on ideas and some early demonstration of proof of concept.
10:51Statovirus nowadays pays a lot earlier requests for traction and high due diligence from investors.
10:58For the first time in a decade, Germany's unemployment has surpassed 3 million people or 6.4%.
11:04In Berlin, the rate is far above that at 10.5%.
11:08Among foreign workers in Germany, it's almost 15%, leaving migrants among the most vulnerable on the labor market.
11:15With over 10 years of experience and no career breaks, Borak thought finding a new job would be easier.
11:21Averagely, I'm applying 30-40 positions in a month.
11:26Generally, I got like 90% automatic rejections.
11:30I think that the supply and demand balance is very off at the moment.
11:35So there are like huge demands, but very few job openings.
11:40AI is booming worldwide and could also revive Berlin's ecosystem.
11:44David, a native Spanish speaker who launched a language learning app in 2017, says the app brings steady revenue.
11:51But can AI also threaten startups like his?
11:54Yeah, definitely AI has changed a lot of the ways in which everyone goes to work, especially if you are a founder that has a product.
12:03Because, of course, it can threaten your way of life if the product that you have can be easily replaced.
12:11If you look at the current challenges of our generation, these are the challenges that are too big for us to solve so quickly on our own.
12:19So I see AI more as an opportunity that we can use it.
12:22Let's work on climate change with this topic.
12:25Let's work on biodiversity.
12:27What I'm not a big fan of is not being mindful of how we use AI, who's building it, what's feeding into the algorithm.
12:36Berlin leads Germany's AI industry with nearly one in three AI startups based in the capital.
12:42But can Berlin's AI startups stay sustainable?
12:45So that they do not become profitable, it could turn into a bubble and it will burst.
12:50So when people are paying you money, that is a very good validator whether your startup is actually something that's worth building further and will become sustainable.
13:01Stay focused entirely on revenue and on sales and making money.
13:05What's holding Germany back?
13:07Stability and precision have long been its strengths, yet many say that innovation is lacking and the country often struggles to embrace it.
13:14Innovation often takes that mentality of moving fast and breaking things.
13:21The current economical situation is signaling that we need to take more risks and do things more unconventionally
13:28so that we can take Germany back on its economical best position it deserves to be.
13:34Start up from the nature that it moves fast and break things.
13:38But culturally here, nobody wants to move fast and nobody wants to break things.
13:43People in Germany do not just dream about growing up and working in a startup.
13:48They are built to find some risk-free professions in a very stable shop and that's why they like to work in their corpus.
13:54Despite stagnation, many remain hopeful that Berlin's startup scene will thrive again.
13:59What brought me to Berlin is the vibrant startup ecosystem.
14:03But what kept me here is actually the challenge of the ecosystem.
14:07Since I'm living in Berlin, I'm building a small nest for my two little children.
14:13I would stay positive and I would say, yes, Berlin is still competitive.
14:17Are you optimistic about Berlin's startup ecosystem and the future of the German economy?
14:23It's not just startups that draw young people to Germany.
14:31Service jobs like those in nursing.
14:33Restaurants or hotels are in urgent need of skilled workers.
14:37More and more people from Asia are filling in to keep the economy going.
14:42Such as at this theme park in southwestern Germany, Europa Park.
14:47But getting a job here is often just the first hurdle for young people.
14:51Germany is hiring and this guy has got a job at the country's biggest theme park.
15:00This moment opened a new chapter in my life.
15:04Maxit now works at one of Europa Park's hotels.
15:07The visa process took a bit long, about a year.
15:10Foreign workers don't just power hotels.
15:12They are behind the attractions, the shops and all the entertainment and fun.
15:16Without all the workers from abroad, we would have closed half of the park.
15:20We had issues to fill the positions, weekends and holidays and the evening shifts.
15:26More than 19,000 workers are needed for hospitality and restaurant jobs across Germany.
15:31So, win-win for Europa Park and Maxit.
15:33But he wasn't prepared for it.
15:35The dialect is a bit difficult to understand.
15:38We only learned standard German.
15:40At first, it was a culture shock for us.
15:42Housing is scarce across Germany.
15:44So, he shares a flat in one of Europa Park's staff apartments.
15:48Here's where I live with my flatmate.
15:51Our flat's a bit small, but it's cozy.
15:54Reality check.
15:56Is he happy in his new home?
15:58Actually, yes.
16:00I'm happy.
16:01But, when it comes to homesickness, it's a bit strange to stay here without my family.
16:06I have a son, he's two years old, and my wife.
16:10In the next few months, they'll be here too.
16:14Until then, he makes the best out of his spare time.
16:17And, yes.
16:18I can ride the rollercoaster for free.
16:24And what's the situation like for young job seekers in China?
16:28Not good.
16:29Youth unemployment in 2025 has been extremely high, at nearly 19%.
16:34College graduates, in particular, are having a hard time finding good jobs.
16:40Many are having to make do with menial work.
16:44Tangping, they call it, or lying flat.
16:47It's also a form of protest.
16:49But others are looking for different solutions.
16:51Praying for a job when all else fails, at Lama Temple in Beijing, graduates are hoping for a change of fortune.
17:04They've gone through grueling university entrance exams and decades of study, in the hopes of a better life.
17:10One that has yet to materialize.
17:15I came here to pray for a smooth life and a successful career.
17:21My ideal job is to work in a stable environment.
17:25Before, even someone with a college degree could easily find a job.
17:31But now, even graduates struggle to find work.
17:36Youth unemployment in China has surged, with latest figures nearing 19% this summer,
17:43when China's largest ever cohort of graduates entered the job market for the first time, over 12 million of them.
17:50The graduate jobs downturn is part of a wider economic slowdown in China.
17:55As the Chinese real estate sector slumps for a fifth straight year.
18:02And car makers and other manufacturers struggle with oversupply.
18:08On top of that, academic Roy Ying says universities are not equipping graduates with skills employers are actually looking for.
18:16Although I'm in academia, I actually have a feeling that we, as teachers, we have some resources.
18:24We have some responsibility.
18:26Because students don't get to choose what we teach.
18:30The graduate job crisis has given rise to a new type of industry.
18:35Pretending to work.
18:37Graduates pay a small fee to spend the day in an office environment that looks just like the real thing.
18:44One of those firms told us Chinese authorities had instructed them not to speak to journalists.
18:50And they asked us not to talk about unemployment rates in this report.
18:54But while all the firms we contacted refused to appear on camera,
18:59on Chinese social media, fake offices are an open secret and a running joke.
19:04Ying warns that no matter how desperate graduates are for a job,
19:08they should never use these types of firms to lie on their CV.
19:12And if there's anything on their CV that is hanky-panky, dodgy, that's probably the first thing out the door.
19:27In a bid to turn the tide, Beijing is offering subsidies to companies that hire unemployed young people
19:33and is developing a traffic light system for university courses, red for oversubscribed,
19:38and green for a course deemed in the interests of the nation.
19:42What exactly is waste?
19:51Broken household appliances, packaging, worn out clothing, leftover materials from production.
19:57All things that someone wants to get rid of because they're no longer of any use to them.
20:03Stop! Some people say there's no such thing as waste.
20:08You can make something new from any material.
20:11Sonali Padkay from India has made a job of it.
20:14Till now, humanity has thought about creating just single-use material.
20:28We have to think about what is the second, third, fourth use of the same material.
20:33And whether we can look at it differently and create something which was not looked upon as a possibility before.
20:40I'm Sonali Padkay from Studio Alternatives and we work in the field of upcycling as well as various projects that we do with scrap.
20:55We want this to become a hub for designers, for young students to come and explore material.
21:06Let's say you buy something online or even from a shop.
21:09It comes with a set of instruction manuals and it comes with safety and you know how to use it and everything else.
21:15But there are no instructions on how to throw it or how to take it apart.
21:28We should go a step ahead when we make our products.
21:31Whether we can also tell people how to disassemble it when you're done with it.
21:35So you take charge of what should happen to it and not just dump it somewhere.
21:47With upcycling, it's a lot of experimentation.
21:50We have conducted workshops.
21:52We do projects mostly for individuals or also corporates where the scrap form corporates we receive here and we've done something with tires, we've done something with old furniture, we've refurbished things and put it back in spaces.
22:05Can scrap of one entity become an input to another entity and can we work on such different models?
22:17For example, we needed like one meter pipes, metal pipes for a project.
22:21And the thing was that I had to buy bigger section of pipes in the market, we get 20 feet or 18 feet pipes.
22:28And I was talking to somebody we know, nearby fabricator and for him that one meter pipe was waste because in his project he could not have any joints.
22:37So suddenly, see there is a lot of value that is there even economically.
22:43It makes sense for both parties.
22:46So with scrap also can we have a platform where people are connected and before it is even called as waste, it becomes a material that can be reutilized at that scale itself.
22:56Sahara and I both believe that since we are located in this village, in this community, let us say can we make a difference to the five kilometer radius that we are already in.
23:15So we are coming up with a scrap library for schools especially, so from an very early age, we give a material library of say 25 material to start with.
23:35We will give tool sets that go with the scrap and we have instructions on how to use the scrap to create something.
23:48It could be art and craft, it could be a part of your regular models that you do in schools, maybe a part of geography or other subjects that you are learning.
23:56So we feel as early as possible, we have to cut this notion that this is garbage.
24:09You have to start looking at it as a resource.
24:15Let's say for a book cover, why do you need to buy brown paper from the shop?
24:19Can you just maybe stitch the wrappers that you have from your chocolates or chips packets?
24:24Can you stitch it? Can you make a waterproof cover out of it?
24:28So we are saying we are salvaging material and we are trying to work on it to increase the life of material.
24:33We have a concept that because it is waste or scrap it has to be free.
24:53Upcycling essentially it has to come up as a business.
24:56It has to have products which hold their space in the market.
25:00You can't ask people to buy something because it makes more sense as being a sustainable product or a green product.
25:10But somebody should buy it because they like it.
25:12So it has to be aesthetic, it has to be good looking, well made and functionally perfect at par with other products.
25:23The perception that upcycling has to be cheap, that has to be challenged and that has to be explained.
25:28Because you are saving on material but you are going to end up paying more on labour and transport and design costs.
25:37Again the life of what you have created should be long enough that the energy and the processes that are going behind it are justified.
25:43That's it for today's episode of MADE about young people who are becoming increasingly dissatisfied, the search for jobs and a solution that also helps the environment.
26:01See you next time.
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