More than half of young jobseekers lack vocational training
Sunday 25th October 2026 on 22:30 in
Lithuania
The number of young people out of work in Lithuania is steadily falling, but more than half of the young people registered with the Employment Service have no vocational training, LRT reports, citing the service’s data.
About 29,000 young people are looking for work, 4,000 fewer than a year ago. Those without vocational training make up 52% of the Employment Service’s young clients. A further 22% have higher education and 26% have vocational qualifications.
Inga Nomeikienė, an adviser in the Employment Service’s Service Organisation Department, said some young people were put off gaining qualifications by lengthy training, doubts about the quality of the knowledge and uncertainty about how it would apply in the labour market. Many want to start independent lives sooner by finding work or starting a business.
Some opt for short courses or self-directed learning, Nomeikienė said, adding that young people may overlook the long-term benefits of training and struggle with commitment and consistency. She said inactive young people remained a particular challenge because they were least likely to use tailored services offered to them.
About 23.8% of young jobseekers are interested in unskilled work, though the figure varies widely by region. The share is 8.8% in Vilnius, 13% in Kaunas, 13.6% in Vilnius District and 13.9% in Kaunas District. In some smaller municipalities, it exceeds 50%.
Nomeikienė said some young people without qualifications were reluctant to take physically demanding, unskilled jobs and instead preferred cleaner or more flexible work, such as marketing, administration or IT. The available options for them, she said, were low-skilled positions or support to gain a profession. Young people also show more interest than other age groups in service jobs such as bartending, waiting tables and sales, as well as office work.
Nearly 32,000 young people found jobs in the first half of this year. On average, about 5,300 young people are placed in jobs each month, while another 750 start working under business certificates. On October 1, youth unemployment was highest in Kaunas County, at 8.4%, and lowest in Šiauliai County, at 5.5%.