<B>By Pauline ETIENNE</B>

It seems like the whole world?s topsy-turvy! On one side, people are complaining they are unemployed. On the other, booming sectors are ready to offer jobs to young people especially but they can?t find them. And yet, minister Sithanen, will certainly come forward on Friday, saying that unemployment is one of the major economic problems. It is indeed one of the issues that he wants to tackle by the end of his mandate. Although this may not solve the problem completely, a simple change in mentalities may help change the situation quite rapidly.

Why don?t young people take the jobs available on the market? Because they are not ready to work odd hours, replies a manager in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. Or, in some cases, because their family, boyfriend or girlfriend is not ready to see them work odd hours, says another one.

Mauritius can?t afford to rely on traditional sectors like sugar or textile anymore. With this in mind, tourism (now) and BPO (in the long term) appear as two sectors of the future. And guess what they have in common? Odd hours! But, although the change in mentalities seems to have been a success in the hotel industry, the shift does not seem to have affected the BPO sector yet.

Could this be simply due to the fact that tourism is an older sector and that the BPO just needs more time ? or is it simply about generations? It would, of course, be reassuring to opt for the first possibility but there are reasons to believe that it is partly due to the second as well.

Some young people do not really see why they should go and work hard, as Mum and Dad will always be there to give them what they need. God knows why Mum and Dad do not have a more intense reaction that would urge their children to earn their own living. And God knows why some families are just discouraging their children from providing for themselves?

We are living in 2007! The world is changing and all of us should adapt to it if we want to get Mauritius out of trouble. The young generation is the one to build the country. I can understand that a mother wants to have decent working hours because she wants to make sure her children are proper care and education but school-leavers should have no excuse!