translated from Spanish: Cooperativism, an efficient response to the inclusion of young people

Today, in our country, there is a growing talk of the necessary employment inclusion of young people. Proposals are made on how to accelerate this process, opening up financing options for individual projects and new vacancies to incorporate young people into traditional enterprises. All of the above adds up, but it is not entirely clear that it is the solution to the problem, since relevant factors, such as the personal motivations of young people in carrying out a particular work and that it is sustainable over time, are lost.
Recently, a study conducted by Deloitte, with more than 13,000 surveys in 42 countries, revealed the top priorities and concerns of millennials and generation Z. Within the top four, identified a positive impact on the society, combined with knowing the world, buying a home and increasing incomes. Concerns lead to climate change, environmental protection and natural disasters.
These results clearly show that being “an entrepreneur” for new generations is not just an economic spring for a social ascent.
There are also strong reasons for collective efforts, with active citizenship and a more robust economy achieved through collaboration and associative work.
The latter have mobilized the economy in countries such as China, the United States, Germany, Japan, Norway and Finland, among others. Globally, cooperatives have almost 1 billion members, or more than 12% of the world’s population is cooperative and generate 100 million jobs, contributing 10% of the employed population.
In Chile, cooperatives are present in all 16 regions of the country and in the 346 communes. Currently, there are 1,800,000 members, representatives of 21.7% of the economically active population and there is a cooperative movement that takes strength and contributes daily to the social and economic development of the country.
This way of doing business puts collective interests ahead, through an organized community and adopting a long-term vision on current social challenges, such as sustainable economic growth, social development and responsibility Environmental.
Cooperatives have become an efficient response to the inclusion of young people in the economy and the world of work, as being a problem solver affecting society leads young entrepreneurs to engage with others to obtain greater scope in meeting its objectives.
There are also prominent examples of collaborative platforms that are redefining the guidelines of the economy and even of laws in countries. Based on the application of new technologies to establish exchange networks they have positioned a new way of doing business, such as Uber and Alibabá.
In recent days it has been seen that linking the economy with the quest to generate positive impact is an urgent need of today’s world, as it clearly stated at the UN, swedish activist Greta Thunberg, 16, who spoke out against the world’s leaders for not taking steps to save the planet from annihilating, leading more than 160 countries to demonstrate demanding action on climate change.
Well, cooperativism has been developing the economy for many years through collaboration, thereby showing a clear harmony with the priorities and concerns of the new generations. It is everyone’s job to take care of these challenges, where young people have a clear interest, just open more spaces and generate new strategies to develop the economy.

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Original source in Spanish