Building the future workforce

Anna Scott

The plight of the youngest members of the workforce during the most recent recession is well-documented. The steep increase in university tuition fees coupled with some of the highest numbers of younger people not in education, employment or training (NEETS) have highlighted the tough situation that the UK’s youngest find themselves.

Last week’s employment figures from the Office for National Statistics may have revealed that the number of young people unemployed has dropped by 9,000 to 950,000 in the last three months, but this still equates to more than one fifth (21%) of 16 to 24-year-olds without a job in the UK.

Another poll commissioned by Nestle found that nine out of ten employers feel young people leaving school are ill-equipped to start work, which has led the UK and Ireland CEO of the food and beverage multinational to urge businesses to help young people boost their career development prospects by giving them the experience they need to get their first job.

While graduates are more likely to be employed and less likely to be either searching for work or out of the labour force than those with lower or no qualifications, a high proportion still works in non-graduate roles.

Further data from the ONS published this week showed that of those graduates employed, 47% are in roles that do not require a degree, compared with 37% in 2001. The ONS suggests that the increasing supply of graduates and the possible decrease in demand for them has had an effect on the type of job they are doing.

But it’s not all bad news. A number of initiatives are underway to get more young people in work. Fifteen ‘champion’ businesses, backed by a further 90 employers, are leading the ‘Generation Talent’ initiative to persuade companies to adapt their recruitment processes so young unemployed people do not slip through the net and are included in their talent pool.

Another campaign called ‘Building a Creative Nation’ launched by the creative sector’s body for skills development is calling on employers in this sector to each recruit someone aged between 16 and 24 by 2016. And McDonald’s, Jobcentre Plus and learndirect have launched a training scheme for young people which includes tips on interviews, writing CVs and job hunting, called ‘How to get hired’.

Far from being unemployable, there are examples of young people themselves not just showing initiative, but a great deal of business acumen too. In the recruitment sector for example, First Choice Healthcare, an agency set up by two 22-year-old entrepreneurs, has grown so quickly in the last eight months – quadrupling turnover every four weeks – that it has received £500,000 funding from a financial specialist.

There are many employers, skills organisations and charities looking to improve the situation and get more 16 to 24-year-olds into work. There are many young people not fitting the stereotype that they are unskilled and unemployable. 

The creation of high-skill graduate-level jobs is a more complicated macro-economic issue that cannot be resolved in a few months as we come out of the worst economic slump for generations. But there are many simple initiatives that recruiters and employers can take to keep young people who have not been to university in the workforce.  

As economic conditions improve, recruiters must ensure they manage the expectations of clients for the talent they need to recruit, and educate both graduates and non-graduates on their employability and the job market more generally.