Employment, unemployment, NEET, and skills mismatch among Georgia's young people aged 15–29. Data from Geostat Labour Force Survey and ILOSTAT. Updated quarterly.
| Indicator / Segment | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Youth unemployment (15–24) | 34.8% | vs adult (25–64) rate of ~12% |
| Youth unemployment (25–29) | 19.2% | Transition cohort |
| NEET rate (15–24) | 28.4% | Not in education, employment, or training |
| NEET rate (15–29 — ILO standard) | 28.1% | National Employment Strategy target: 15% by 2030 |
| Youth female NEET | 36.8% | Cultural + childcare barriers |
| Youth male NEET | 19.4% | Labour market + migration |
| Youth informal employment | ~52% | Over half of employed youth are informal |
| Youth average wage (formal) | ~GEL 1,680 | ~71% of adult average |
Source: Geostat Labour Force Survey; ILOSTAT. All figures refer to latest available period unless stated.
Georgia's youth labour market is characterised by a very high NEET rate (~28%), a large gap between youth and adult unemployment (34.8% vs 12%), and a severe gender gap in NEET (women 37% vs men 19%). The female NEET gap reflects both early marriage and childcare responsibilities — with kindergarten coverage at ~50% for 3-6 year olds and near-zero for under-3s. Brain drain is significant: approximately 35% of young Georgians who study abroad do not return to the Georgian labour market. The National Employment Strategy 2024–2030 targets NEET below 15% by 2030 — an ambitious reduction requiring sustained policy action. See Education Mismatch →
Education Mismatch Georgia → · Labour Underutilisation → · Law Employment Assistance → · Observatory →
Youth unemployment in Georgia (15-29) stands at 26.8% (Geostat Q4 2023) — among the highest in the EU neighbourhood. The NEET rate (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) for 15-24 year-olds is 20.3%. These figures represent more than economic waste: early labour market exclusion has permanent scarring effects — young people who remain outside employment and education for 12+ months face a lifetime wage penalty of 15-20% (ILO evidence).
The qualification mismatch is severe: 34% of employed graduates work in occupations below their qualification level (Geostat 2023). The education system produces large numbers of humanities and social science graduates for which the labour market has limited demand, while employer surveys consistently cite shortages of: IT professionals, skilled tradespeople (plumbers, electricians), healthcare workers, and logistics specialists.
Georgia's youth unemployment is not primarily a demand-side failure — there are jobs. It is a supply-side mismatch: young Georgians arrive in the labour market with the wrong skills, the wrong expectations, or the wrong geographic location relative to available opportunities. Three structural interventions are needed simultaneously: vocational education reform (create real alternatives to university for 40% of school-leavers); national Youth Guarantee (ensure no young person is NEET for more than 4 months without an offer); and rural activation (address the 38% young female NEET rate in rural Georgia with targeted outreach).
Commit to EU Youth Guarantee: every young person under 25 receives an offer of employment, apprenticeship, or training within 4 months of becoming NEET. Requires: (a) enhanced NEET identification through school and social service data; (b) ESDC capacity for 40,000 annual youth referrals; (c) employer engagement — youth hire incentives (wage subsidy 50% for 6 months); (d) dedicated budget of GEL 85M annually. Pilot evidence shows 68% employment rate at 6 months.
EU Youth Guarantee (2013) · Georgia pilot 2021-2023 · Slovakia (implementation case study)Georgia's VET (vocational education and training) system has low status and poor quality. Reform: (1) employer-led curriculum for priority occupations (IT, healthcare, construction, logistics); (2) dual system — 60% work-based learning + 40% classroom; (3) VET teacher salary parity with academic teachers; (4) accreditation of informal skills (Recognition of Prior Learning). Target: 30% of school-leavers choosing VET by 2027 (vs 18% currently).
Germany (dual VET system) · Austria (apprenticeship) · Georgia VET reform action plan 20233,500 unfilled IT vacancies, growing at 22% annually. State-co-funded intensive training: 6-month coding bootcamp (GEL 4,500 cost, 80% state-funded); partnership with TBC Bank, EPAM, and Georgian tech companies for employment guarantee. Target: 2,000 graduates/year by 2025, 4,000 by 2027. ROI: each placed IT worker generates GEL 1.2M in taxable earnings over 10 years.
Georgia (existing GITA programmes — scale up) · Estonia (Kood/Jõhvi coding school) · Poland (tech talent initiative)Young women in rural Georgia have 38% NEET rate — the highest risk group. Dedicated programme: (a) mobile counselling in rural communities monthly; (b) online skills training (digital literacy, accounting, English) with tablet provision; (c) childcare support during training; (d) microfinance (GEL 3,000 business start-up grant) for home-based enterprise. UNICEF-ESDC partnership model — cost: GEL 12M/year.
UNICEF Rural Girls Programme · Georgia ESDC rural outreach pilot · ILO C18934% of graduates are in jobs below their qualification level partly because they have no work experience at graduation. Legislate mandatory 3-month internship as graduation requirement for all publicly-funded university programmes. Employer register: companies with 50+ employees must offer internship places (1 per 50 employees). MLHSA-MES joint implementation. Paid: minimum GEL 300/month.
Germany (Praktikum model) · France (stage obligatoire) · Estonia (internship law)| ILO Convention | Subject | Ratified | Compliance | Key Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C142 | Human Resources Development | 1993 | Partial | VET system low quality; employer engagement in training weak |
| C122 | Employment Policy | 1993 | Partial | No youth employment strategy; Youth Guarantee not adopted nationally |
| C138 | Minimum Age | 1996 | Good | Child labour largely absent from formal sector; informal agricultural child labour a residual concern |