Striving for Decent and Formal Work Opportunities: How Young People Navigate Employment in Bujumbura

Abstract

This research explores how young people currently in higher education or with completed university degrees in Bujumbura, Burundi, experience and navigate access to decent and formal employment. Despite formal education being widely viewed as a pathway to personal development, social status, and decent work, many young Burundians face structural, and social barriers that prevent them from translating their educational qualifications into meaningful job opportunities. Drawing on the Capability Approach, the study investigates not only what young people are able to do and be in the labor market, but also the freedoms and constraints that shape these possibilities. The research is grounded in qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with 34 youths and a document analysis of international documents related to employment. The research reveals four key themes; the value placed on education; the strategies youth employ to access decent and formal job opportunities; barriers within the labor market; and the broader personal and social consequences of persistent unemployment and underemployment. Further the research highlights the presence of systemic barriers such as favoritism, political affiliation, gender-based harassment, and the scarcity of formal employment. Despite these challenges, the study finds that young people are not idle, instead demonstrate significant agency in a constrained labor environment, often relying on personal networks, pursuing short-term gigs and entrepreneurship.