What would young people like to do when they grow up? Will they be able to fulfil their job aspirations? Will they be attracted by sectors that have potential for sustainable development and secure livelihoods? More than ever before, we need to better understand the employment preferences of young men and women in the developing world. Digging into youth aspirations is incredibly important if we are to harness the tremendous energy and talent of young people, make potential growth sectors more attractive to them, and ultimately contain the chilling effects that unmet youth aspirations can have on society.

Many governments in developing countries are realising that the quality of jobs matters for development and that dedicated efforts are needed to support the transition from school to decent work. However, little is known on what actually matters for young people in terms of job characteristics and employment conditions, and to what extent youth aspirations can fit with the world they will be entering. Answering these questions is important for a diverse audience of policy makers seeking to enhance youth well-being, raise labour productivity and contain the chilling effects that unmet youth aspirations can generate on society.

Policy makers across the world are preoccupied with the great challenge of helping millions of young people find decent work, as conveyed in Goal 8 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The challenge is particularly daunting in developing countries where, in the face of large informal labour markets and weak enforcement of labour standards, many young people are obliged to take low-quality jobs for their very survival and end up as the working poor. This has led many governments in developing countries to realise that good jobs matter for development and that dedicated efforts are needed to boost the quality of jobs and make work pay. It is striking, however, how little attention has been paid so far to exploring what actually matters for young people in terms of job characteristics and employment conditions. Today, in many developing and emerging countries, a key development challenge is that existing jobs do not live up to youth aspirations.

“What would you like to do when you grow up?” is a simple, commonly asked question. Whether or not youth career aspirations are fulfilled can provide insights into youth well-being. This chapter places youth employment preferences at the forefront and asks two crucial questions: What is the nature of youth career aspirations? And what shapes such preferences? The chapter begins by exploring in detail the sectors of activity and types of occupations that appeal to students aged 15-29 in 32 developing countries. It then investigates how various socio-economic characteristics of young people may shape such aspirations.

Job satisfaction is a common measurement of subjective well-being in the world of work, one that can be assessed both at the overall level and at the facet level. Job facet satisfaction concerns the extent to which an individual is satisfied with different aspects of the job. Measurement of job facet satisfaction helps identify what actually matters for people in terms of job characteristics and employment conditions. This chapter provides an assessment of the different aspects of the job that young people value and that bring greater job satisfaction. It shows that facets of job satisfaction can add to our understanding of job quality. It further discusses the reasons for using an adjusted measure of job satisfaction.

Accounts of well-being based on preference satisfaction or desire fulfilment say that people experience greater well-being to the extent that their preferences are satisfied or their desires are fulfilled. This chapter considers two aspects of subjective well-being in the sense of preference satisfaction that were discussed earlier: youth career aspirations and facets of job satisfaction. It then asks a simple question: How likely are these employment preferences to be satisfied given the reality of jobs in developing countries? The chapter starts by confronting youth employment preferences with realistic employment prospects. It then discusses the implications that a large gap in youth employment preference may have for public policy.