When Alex Godson started his first unpaid internship in Brussels, Belgium, home of the EU’s many political institutions, he believed a full-time position was within his grasp. But it took another three years of low-paid traineeships until the master’s degree graduate in international relations from Manchester University was offered a permanent job at the European Movement International, a lobby group, in May.
当亚历克斯•戈德森在号称“欧盟政治机构聚集地”的比利时布鲁塞尔找到自己的第一份无偿实习工作时，他相信一份全职工作将指日可待。但实际上，这位曼彻斯特大学国际关系专业硕士在做了三年的低薪培训生后，才于今年5月在游说团体——欧洲国际行动组织谋得一份长期工作。
“When you’re just rolling from one unpaid traineeship to another, you’re not on a path to anywhere, ” Godson, who relied on his parents for financial support, told Reuters. “There’s always that intern in the office, and you’re just the person holding that position at the moment.”
“当你在无偿培训生岗位上轮换时，你仿佛无路可走，”曾身为“啃老族”的戈德森在接受路透社采访时说，“办公室总是有实习职位，而你不过就是暂时获得这个职位的人而已。”
His experience is not unique, as nearly a quarter of all under-25s, more than 19 million people, in the EU are jobless, according to the latest statistics. In Spain and Greece, which have been hardest hit by the recession, youth unemployment now exceeds 50 percent. In Sweden, under-25s account for 38 percent of those in unemployment, and they are taking to the streets in protest.
像他的这样经历并非罕见。根据最新发布的一组数据显示，如今在欧盟国家，25岁以下人群的失业率有近四分之一，失业人数超过1900万人。在受经济危机影响最为严重的西班牙和希腊，青年失业率超过了50%。在瑞典，38%的失业人群是25岁以下人群，失业者纷纷走上街头游行抗议。
“This is a social emergency, ” Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, told The Independent. “Unless we tackle the high levels of youth unemployment now, they risk damaging the economy and society in the long term.”
“社会处于一个紧急关头，”欧盟委员会主席若泽•曼努埃尔•巴罗佐在接受《独立报》采访时说，“除非我们能够解决青年失业率居高不下这一问题，否则，从长远来看，可能会对经济与社会造成破坏性影响。”
With fears of a “lost generation” rising, EU leaders met last month to discuss the details of an action plan to tackle youth unemployment. They agreed to spend 6 billion euros (48 billion yuan) on creating jobs and traineeships, The Guardian reported.
据《卫报》报道称，由于“迷惘的一代”人心惶惶，上个月，欧盟领导人举行会晤，就解决年轻人失业问题的行动方案细节展开讨论，最终达成协议，将斥资60亿欧元（480亿人民币）来创造更多的就业岗位和培训生职位。
But economists have warned that throwing money at the problem will not necessarily accelerate its resolution. Instead, they stress that the key is economic growth. “It’s not possible to create jobs in a recessionary environment - you need growth to pick up, ” Carsten Brzeski, from the international banking company ING, told Reuters.
而经济学家却提醒，一味地“砸钱”并不一定会加速解决问题的进程。他们强调经济增长才是解决问题的关键。“在经济衰退的环境下，无法创造就业机会——需要用经济增长来扭转局面。”来自国际金融公司——荷兰国际集团的卡斯滕•布里斯基在接受路透社采访时表示。
Europe’s young, however, are not willing to wait for a miracle to happen, they are finding other ways of dealing with their grim circumstances. Some choose to delay employment by traveling or volunteering, some look abroad for better opportunities, while others stay put and seek to change their fate.
然而，欧洲的年轻人并不愿守株待兔，等待奇迹出现；他们正在寻求其他途径来应对低迷的就业形势。一些人选择去旅行或做志愿者来推迟就业，一些人则放眼海外寻求更好的工作机会，而另一些人留守国内，探寻改变命运的契机。