“Online Labour Bank” (OLB)AN ENTREPRENEURIAL SOLUTION TO THE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT CRISES

*Note to the Judges:* It is very much recommended if the judge would like to save time

and have a better feel for this idea they check out the short 10-15min of us ACTUALLY presenting this slide show on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/user/CFTeamPlatform?feature=mhee*The authors have intentionally not adhered to the ‘Slide limit’

and Structure conditions of the submission due to good reason.*Presumably they were set because of the worry of a limited time

on part of the Judges. However, the number of slides does not determine a time constraint of the presentation itself, and by limiting the number of slides it can often effect the quality of the ideas being presented. As this is a highly complex problem to solve, the author(s) have decided to record themselves in a 10-15min presentation available on Youtube of this presentation, where some of the slides are gone through faster then others.

1. Experiencing, discovering and defining the problem

As Economies have undergone greater financialization (moving away from making “real goods”) it is argued by many economists that that they have also increased in their volatility

This has lead to periodic financial crises, and credit expansion often with little concern for long term consequences.

Major players have been large Banking institutions, who have shown that they cannot be trusted with the management of capital allocation for driving effective economic growth.

This is because they are more likely to invest in short term gains such as creating a housing bubble, then in long term solutions sustainable energy development

As such one can argue the current youth unemployment crises has taken ‘decades’ in the making.

This Trend is largely confirmed by analysis conducted by the ILO.

For a more detailed understanding of the macro economic reasons that has lead to this crises (potentially more) the authors recommend watching the Oscar winning Documentary “Inside Job” and analysis undertaken by Economists such as Paul Krugman, and analysis of the monetary system as explored by the documentaries Zeitgeist Addendum and Zeitgeist Moving Forward.

1.1 What are the causes of this problem? What conditions

allowed youth unemployment to occur? Who is responsible for the

situation?

Limitations of the Educational system, from the side of Youth Seeking Employment/Qualifications for Employment:Education in many ways is becoming more

expensive – and out of reach for those who need it the most (e.g. youth of global south, and those below the poverty line in the north)

Degrees often ‘more talk then cock’ Singaporean phrase meaning there is often far little in education then is advertised

actual traineeships and training in companies that make the education ‘employable’ are becoming more and more ‘blackboxed’(in the UK hundreds of applications are made for internships at large institutes – not just the jobs)

This is often because of unecessary academic inflation on part of employers, for work that doesn’t require it (e.g. wanting a masters degree for a Mcdonalds ‘teller’ position).

Employers do this because they often have an oversupply of labour for simple positions, and feel academic inflation allows them to filter the best talent….

HOWEVER…

1.2 Do the reasons lie in inappropriate educational curricula, ways to obtain

skills and experiences, or is this more because of the

overall economic environment??

From the Side of the Employers:• Hiring companies also complainin that the

trainees they eventually hire, though they seem qualified on paper are not actually trained for many of the real life problems they expect them to deal with.

For example in NASA often they are hiring people who look really good on paper, but don’t turn out to be actual scientists and inventors (The NASA problem). This problem is endemic across many industries.

This comes from the somewhat unrealistic expectation of employers thinking that the person will know how to do the job – even before they have done it.

In this sense academic inflation, and traditional hiring scheme methods are often un realistic for the very problem they are trying to solve.

Competancy is passively outsourced to the education sector – with limited efforts for companies to train their own professionals.

‘THE PROBLEM’ (BROADLY)

SUPPLY & DEMAND MISMATCH

2. Conditions of the New Solution: What should the bridge between the

Mismatch do? Education System:democratize education + more

apprenticeships – courses should be made more ‘real’ by directly linking them with the demands of the private sector.

There should also be an increase in more meaningful subjects like engineering, medicine or social sciences, and less ‘history of art’ or ‘film studies’ type degrees.

This can lead to more appropriate educational curricula and lessening of gaining commercially useless skills and experiences.

Economic System overall economic environment’s

effects cannot be ignored. Economies have to decrease dependence on finance as this is very volatile. Rather, there should be greater focus on creating new industries, involving engineering and other services types that creat ‘real’ goods (tangible products like electric cars and services like high quality education, or health)

global shift towards real goods required; and not just the rearrangment of money required

*Cont’dChange in Employer AttitudesShift away from the mentality, of hiring

people based on the qualifications they have on paper – and demanding inflated academic requirements for jobs that do not need them it – and start giving people (even as young as high school graduates) immediate opportunities to display their talent in the work they might be asked to do. This lessens the possibility of making the NASA Mistake

Start valuing ‘Interns’ and ‘Trainees’ again rather than “who has the best degree” from the job market applications – because at the end of the day its about getting the work done. This mean the solution should make more accessible internships and relevant training

21st century Proof- The Soln needs to take

advantage of an increasingly Tech Savy + Tech Work Force – with access to broadband and high performance machines - Be able to capture the online

market of another billion people going online by 2020

2 The Solution: An Online Apprenticeship Platform + Convert 20th century jobs into games

workable/playable online

(i) Create an online peer-to-peer platform for apprenticeship and training reverse engineered directly from the trainee/HR programs and requirements of companies looking to hire in the form of a ‘Labour Bank’

(ii) Turn many traditional 9-5 paperwork, cubicle type jobs into games and outsource them to the web

Think of an Airplane Simulator

Except instead of this (complex + expensive machinery) it is more like…

Something that could be done from home, or a simple work station.

How would it work?

*Stage 1 Creating a ‘labour bank’ This will consist of creating a large database of young people and their skill sets. Simultaneously there will be a database of work that will be available in coming months and years. 

*Stage 2 Approaching growing companies such as those in renewables. Sitting down with them and web platform programmers (such as myself) + game designers* seeing what part of their work could be out-sourced to an online platform. The

companies would be incentivised to make this move as the work force will be directly trained with the key requirements of the positions at hand, and hence they will be of greater value to the company then people selected arbitrarily from the market (very much the same way that interns in companies are often more valuable, then their counterparts in the labour force).

* The difference between traditional trainee apprenticeships and this idea is that it will * (1) draw from a larger pool of labour talent the entire web * (2) it has scope for expanding employer services/ products to the online market

which will increase by another billion people come 2020 * (3) It will reduce costs of traditional work (like having a physical place) by

converting many 20th century jobs into games that could be played by anyone

Training would consist of online course materials, and digital work stations – but unlike many online courses today – it would involve live interaction with training professionals/teachers. Webinar platforms such as google hangouts could be used.

Eventually Interns, and Trainees – who have passed the exams, worked on online stations or shown their talents - could go work ‘offline’ at the actual companies.

Timeline of Steps Taken?

Stage 3: Training via online and offline training centres*-          Taking advantage of growing online courses -- matching

them up with employer needs (e.g. A solar panels company might recommend taking ‘Engineering Basics’ from coursera – and then combine it with their programme on OLB)*-          Webinar platforms to be used by young/elder people

currently in companies or having had the appropriate training desired by companies – to directly train young people for employment.*-          Online apprenticeships (with digital work stations, and 9-

5 work available for anyone skilled enough to try out. Results monitored by companies who would then decide upon performance whether they would like to hire talent) *Work could be made into computer games -- the platform would

be a combined effort between companies and game developers.

4 Analysis

Develops Skills?Yes…by directly teaching materials reverse engineered from private sector. This improves access to education, mentorship and Networking – as many of the teachers would come directly out of the targeted employment.Job Sampling / Micro Jobs/ InternshipMost valuable aspect of this idea – it provides a new way of increasing employability. Not just having education.Is it feasible/do-able?Yes. The Technology, know how and market conditions are very much intune. How Would we measure successBy how many people who go through the training programme(s) manage to find the work their employers designed the platform for.

4.2 How is it different from current initiatives?

Is it the same as online education?It is a form of OE, but different because Involves live teachers Curricula, Expectations and Products made by training at the End of the

day directly relevant to needs of Private sectorWill constitute as Traineeships rather than degrees i.e. people will do the

work of the jobs (with guidance) inorder to get the job. Not just be educated for it.

Aren’t games counter productive to work? Not really, one can think of flight simulators that train

people for real life scenarios in something that very much resembles a computer game. How many more options like this could be out there if developed?

Possible Outcomes

Planned results and outcomes, including:* This is difficult to predict, however initially we will approach

companies/jobs that would be most conducive to the idea. Initial targets could be (i) Creating courses based on Private Sector demands (1 year) (ii) Building an online platform (1 year) (iii) Advertising and marketing (6 months) (iv) Training first batch and seeing if they can get employment (This will depend largely on the companies we approach and the type of work we are gearing them for. For example it could be as little as few months if it involves creating ‘Translators’ or few years if it means training machinists.

How many hours will your team spend on the solution?Trick question, as many as necessary.

How many young people will you engage? How many young unemployed people will you reach?

Initially for the pilot probably no more then a few dozen. Depending on the experience, we will attempt to expand and improve thus overtime capturing a larger body.

Is the Solution perfect?

Far From It…Major Limitations Its been limitedly tried, for example with aircraft pilots and flight

simulators. This is taking that idea and crossbreeding across as many industries as possible

However There is Huge Potential! Imagine Engineering Workshops Available at the tip of the Key pad. Solar

Panel companies being able to see who plays ‘best’ in their digital work stations in building, and implementing new energy configurations Then hiring the person who has shown directly they are capable of doing the work rather than someone who just looked good on paper

Minimal risk in terms of investment in the wrong person – as making mistakes on the virtual world are far more cost friendly than say making the same mistakes in a real life workshop or project. It is critical however these be designed well to mimick true to life the conditions of real life. The technology to do this exists today (if one looks at high calibar games like Skyrim for example)

Companies can expand to provide innovative services online if these programmes come to life

Conclusion: Why the Online Labour Bank

Why Do-ablePossible with Current Technology, and economic situation – requiring

minimal investment in part of potential employers and employeesRealistic

Attempts to bring fore the traditional notions of apprenticeship(s) as being more valuable then arbitrary training that is not customized

Encourages The Private/Public sector to think in terms of ‘Real goods and services’ which can have broad positive macro-economic stability spill overs.

21st century proofTakes advantage of the unique market conditions and labour force

available in the 21st century in a simple but effective mannerHigh Impact Potential This solution can spread across countries and industries! It can be customized and bridge the information gap in economies

while providing an innovative outlet to democratize “real” employability as it would be reverse engineered from the demands of the growing elements in the private sector