Full employment

Introduction

Full employment is the economic concept that refers to a situation where the entire active population of a country is working. This situation implies that labor supply and demand are equal, creating a completely balanced labor market, where the value of unemployment would be equal to zero. Although this is the theoretical definition, in reality there will always be a small percentage, which we will call frictional unemployment, where certain professionals spend a certain period of time from when they start looking for a job until they find one according to their qualifications. The consequences of a society reaching full employment are entirely positive. Reaching this situation would imply that the markets are in perfect balance, companies would have no problem finding qualified personnel for their jobs and citizens would find employment at any time. In reality, it is practically impossible to reach an exact moment in which the demand and supply of labor are equal, because there will always be this frictional unemployment (for example, workers who are not satisfied with their current position given their training, and spend months unemployed until they get a better offer), but it is an ideal situation and everything that means approaching it is positive.