According to researchers at the University of Maastricht (UCM), unemployment among poorly qualified young people in the Netherlands is set to rise dramatically.

The UCM researchers believe that although underqualified young people will be hardest hit by the current global economic crisis in the short term, in the long term the consequences will not be as severe as had been expected. They will not be completely shut out of the job market although they will earn less than previous generations of unqualified or poorly qualified people.

The UCM team also notes that pupils are avoiding technical courses as the economic downturn has hit the technical sectors of industry particularly hard. The researchers also say that many pupils are staying on at school as they do not believe they will find a job if they leave.