por ALBERTO AZCARATE VARELA
THE BAJA POST/EDITOR
One of the most frequent criticisms made towards many of the universities is that they are not adequately preparing the future professionals, for the labor and employment search struggle, mainly in an environment with alarming unemployment statistics, in which professional success is measured precisely in terms of employment.
With the aim of increasing the possibilities of placement in the labor market, through the acquisition of experience and the development of specialized skills in their field, for at least a couple of decades most universities have been promoting internships professionals and social service, in which they send their students to public and private entities, inside and outside the country, to carry out supervised activities that allow them to insert themselves in their professional environment, and then unemployment beats most ofthem.
These are strategies that have not been implemented so far in 2020, since as part of the sanitary restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, all face-to-face academic activity is suspended in Mexico, and all non-essential activity in the different industries are carried out with the operation of small groups of workers.
Amid disappointing forecasts regarding unemployment, which estimate that Mexico will decrease to -10.2% at the end of the year, and in an international context of instability and latent outbreaks of the pandemic, it is likely that many of the spaces previously designated for the practice of future professionals look closed.
In addition to the support of public policies that motivate the confidence of consumers and investors in companies, after the pandemic it will be essential to create new jobs and forms of work from entrepreneurship and innovation to counteract these losses, the Mtro considered. Ulysses Moreno López, Director of the CETYS University Business Incubator.
“Although the priority is to invest in health, it must also be invested in people, and this corresponds to each of us in the private sphere; students, academics and entrepreneurs, we must see opportunities that nobody is seeing to generate new business options that contemplate social distancing, and the intensive use of information and communication technologies”.
To achieve this, he added, higher education institutions must promote the emergence of disruptive ventures in the technological, social and cultural sectors, for which they must also grant new skills to students.
“Not being physically in the workplace leads to developing new skills. It will be the creativity and innovation of the workers that, with the help of digital tools, will allow companies to manage the commitments that were on hold due to the contingency, and from now on, adapt their processes to integrate practitioners into them and support them. in its development, thus creating a new way of providing professional practice or social service services”.
By inserting themselves into new work processes, students generate value for the company to which they provide their social service or internships, at the same time that they acquire professional experience.
Their knowledge can reinvent work models that have remained static for decades, resulting in an engine towards the innovation of processes and procedures for the benefit of the organization, for example, with the design of new software to make production more efficient, or with analysis and delivery. of new customer service plans and public relations that favor their profitability, which will be essential to overcome as soon as possible the crisis and loss of competitiveness caused by the economic environment.
All this, said Mtro. Ulysses Moreno, in a post-COVID-19 environment, will help ensure not only the subsistence of companies, but also their growth.
The recommendation for students is to increase their digital capabilities and soft skills that will help them compete in these contexts of uncertainty and international volatility”, concluded the Director.
At the national level, ANUIES, Santander Universities, CONRICYT and BID INDES make available to university students online tools that help them strengthen their skills, and increase access to better opportunities in the future:
http://www.oecd.org/perspectivas-economicas/
http://www.becas-santander.com/es
http://www.indesvirtual.iadb.org/?lang=es
