By LEIGHTON WILLIAMS, Staff Reporter
EVERYTIME I HEAR our business people and employers talk about how young people needs to create opportunities for themselves I get upset.
The reason I get worked up about their comments is because I think they live in another Jamaica, where bank loans are easy to come by.
Seriously, I don't know who talks more and does less, them or the Government.
I have read, time and time again, the advice given to young people to start their own businesses. It is an idea that I endorse 100 per cent. Really, there is nothing better than being your own boss. I mean you literally turn up to work and close shop whenever you want, you take vacation when you want and you are not bothered by pesky supervisors and meagre wages. If the business fails you have yourself to blame, but if it succeeds you can pat yourself on the shoulder and say how good you are.
But, alas, as much as we want to be our own bosses, it is difficult for young persons fresh out of school to start a business, especially when their parents do not move in influential circles.
I have a friend who recently left university. He came up with this idea of starting his own business and even prepared his business proposals and everything he thought he needed get a loan from the bank. After all, he thought by building his own business he would be giving back to Jamaica. But, at the end of the day, he had to abandon his stand as the banks told him he needed collateral in order to get a loan.
Illegal activity
This experience brings me back to what I said earlier. As young people we are told to create our own opportunities rather than seek employment. Whenever a university graduate sits at home for months unable to get a job and starts complaining about the lack of jobs, that person is told to try to create his or her own opportunities. But, whenever that person tries to do so it often becomes difficult.
Consequently, I am wondering how we are to create our own opportunities when we can't get a job or get a loan to begin with? I mean most of us are no longer guaranteed of jobs when we leave universities, so why not make the process of getting loans or any other benefits to start creating our own opportunities easier.
After all these years though I think our business people and Government are content in telling us in a subtle way that we should wait our turn, that is, wait until we are old and gray before we can access that opportunity. Seriously, barring entering an illegal activity or going into the informal sector, creating your own opportunity when you are young is a farce. The only thing more farcical than that is a cow jumping over the moon. It's unfortunate that I have to think this way but sadly I believe true opportunity for young people in this country is just an idea and not the norm.
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