The world of work is changing fast. Small and medium-sized businesses account for the majority of employment opportunities in the UK and more people than ever before run their own businesses.
Industries are transforming and many companies that will become household names in 10 years’ time do not yet exist. This can make it difficult for potential job-seekers, and those who teach them, to keep up.
At the same time, youth unemployment remains three times higher than the national average, and the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) rose in January 2016 to 853,000.
This is despite the fact that there are 700,000 unfilled vacancies across the country.
Research by Dr Anthony Mann, director of policy and research at the Education and Employers’ Taskforce, shows that one powerful intervention to decrease the likelihood of young people becoming NEET, is to expose them to employers while at school and college.
The research – Employer Engagement in British Secondary Education – shows that young people who have multiple encounters with employers during their education are significantly less likely to become NEET, and earn on average 18 per cent more than peers who have no such exposure.
These encounters inspire, motivate and inform young people about the job market, support learning by doing, and bring young people as close as possible to the changing world of work. Today, only in 40 per cent of schools does a young person currently have one encounter with an employer every year.
The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) found that 66 per cent of employers think work experience is critical or significant when hiring, yet only 38 per cent of employers offer it (see report, The Death of the Saturday Job).
This is not because schools, colleges and employers do not think this is important. Goodwill from both employers and schools and colleges can easily be dissipated by different timetables and priorities which can make it difficult to build lasting links between them.
At the same time, it is hard for schools and colleges to determine where to invest scarce resource between different careers and enterprise activities and services in a relatively crowded marketplace.
Careers support
The Careers and Enterprise Company has been set up by the government – although it works independently – to address some of these challenges.
Its role is to “join the dots” in careers and enterprise provision across England and help to bridge the gap between education and the world of work.
To do this, we are working nationally but tailoring locally. We have started by identifying geographic areas of focus.
We collated the most recent data from UKCES and the government to identify geographic “cold spots” in careers and enterprise provision. The resulting report, which includes indicators such as STEM uptake and employer engagement with schools and colleges, shows that there is disparity in the support available for young people across England. Northern, coastal and rural areas are particularly challenged.
We are using this insight to help with the allocation of our £5 million Careers and Enterprise Fund, which will be invested in organisations with tested, proven careers and enterprise programmes, to support them in scaling up in order to help the young people who are most in need. We received close to 250 applications and will be announcing the beneficiaries later this month.
Enterprise Advisers
In September last year we launched the Enterprise Adviser network. Its goal is to make it easier for schools and colleges to connect with local employers and careers and enterprise providers, stimulating provision where it is scarce and simplifying where it is confusing.
It pairs individual senior business volunteers with senior leadership teams in schools and colleges. The business volunteer supports the school or college to build employer engagement and careers and enterprise plans.
The network is underpinned by a set of Enterprise Coordinators, full-time employees who will work with 20 schools and colleges and provide a simple overview of local employers and career and enterprise services.
Their job will be to knock on employers’ doors, understand offers from service providers and declutter the work facing schools and colleges trying to build connections.
The network is co-led with the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), which are working to build coalitions of businesses, schools, colleges and service providers. A key element of the network is to ensure school and college leaders are part of the local governance.
This group of school and college leaders will be brought together regularly by the Company to provide insight, feedback and drive continuous improvement of the network.
Enterprise Passports
Over the next year this system will be enabled digitally through our Enterprise Passport, an online tool to help young people record the careers and enterprise activities they take part in and showcase them to employers.
Alongside this will be a portal for stakeholders to navigate the complex careers and enterprise landscape.
As we continue to grow, we will build on what works, testing and adapting from feedback.
Please stay in touch with us and let us know how we can better support schools and colleges to help their young people transition into the world of work.
- Claudia Harris is the CEO of the Careers and Enterprise Company. She was previously a partner with McKinsey & Company in London.
Further information
- For more on the Enterprise Adviser network and the wider work of the Careers and Enterprise Company, visit www.careersandenterprise.co.uk. You can also follow on Twitter at @CareerEnt
For more on the work, programmes and resources of the Education and Employers’ Taskforce, visit www.educationandemployers.org
References
- Employer Engagement in British Secondary Education: Wage earning outcomes experienced by young adults, Dr Anthony Mann (Education and Employers’ Taskforce) and economist Christian Percy, March 2013: http://bit.ly/1MdBvW6
- The Death of the Saturday Job: the decline in earning and learning amongst young people in the UK, UK Commission for Employment and Skills, June 2015: http://bit.ly/1QOgbvJ