Recent workplace training and skills news, summarised below, focuses heavily on Britain's younger citizens, whose unemployment level now exceeds one million. While the Government struggles to influence employers with funding incentives that will encourage take-up of apprenticeships and youth training, two research reports paint an unflattering picture of Britain's young jobseekers.
Government investment:
The government has announced several investment schemes, including a £1 billion package aimed at tackling youth unemployment by incentivising business to give work and training placements to the young unemployed. The measures are focused on equipping young people with the skills and opportunities they need to gain long-term employment, and the programme will take a payment-by-results approach.
Responding to this, Katerina Rudiger, skills policy adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said:
"By giving young people the opportunity to experience the world of work, and the world of work the opportunity to experience young people, there's the potential to benefit everyone." But she warned: "The biggest challenges will be ensuring deadweight costs are minimised, ensuring a sufficient supply of real jobs, and avoiding employers becoming reliant on such subsidies in the long term ... ministers will need to keep a close eye on any signs that the system is being manipulated at taxpayers' undue expense."
The Government also announced:
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a £250 million competitive fund for vocational training (bids from businesses to be placed in the New Year), with a view to funding the design, development and purchase of vocational training programmes that support apprenticeships and show a commitment to raising skills levels in a particular sector or supply chain; and
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government funding to support thousands of apprenticeships up to degree-level equivalent. Around 250 employers, including Leyland Trucks, Unilever, TNT and Burberry will benefit.
UK youth's employability under question
Meanwhile, on opening a new store in Salford, the supermarket Morrisons felt compelled to send around 150 of its local young recruits on basic skills courses. Some were sent to college to refresh their skills in literacy and numeracy, and some to a social enterprise scheme for "excluded" individuals. Apparently they lacked the basic skills needed to stack shelves, turn up on time, or communicate, according to the Telegraph.
A collaborative report, produced in part by the Association of Graduate Recruiters, looked at what makes graduates employable, and concluded that a "global mindset" was the competency most valued by leading, global employers. It highlighted the comparatively low number of UK students studying abroad compared with students from other countries, and concluded that the UK lags behind its competitors in developing graduates who fit the bill.
In a PR piece, Antal Global Recruitment, which has offices in more than 30 countries, has added insult to injury by announcing that British university leavers have very little "get up and go". Tony Goodwin, the head of the international recruitment firm said:
"We work in countries all across the world and are constantly reminded of the efforts many job-seekers will go to in order to get a job. Unfortunately, you can't say the same for British graduates. Our vast experience of the industry shows that if you want lazy, uninspired graduates then Britain is the place to go."
And sadly, according to XpertHR's graduate recruitment survey, finding good quality graduates is the biggest challenge recruiting employers face.
Photo by Yvette Hoitink.
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