
The world is changing at break-neck speed – so the way we educate young people about how to navigate between the worlds of education and the workplace has to change too. At the moment there is a huge skills mismatch. McKinsey’s report, from Education to Employment, confirms the paradox of, on the one hand, a global youth unemployment problem, and yet employers are reporting key skills shortages.
Employers that we speak to at Changeboard, like National Grid’s CEO, Steve Holliday, are championing collective action and encouraging business leaders to work together to address this. Even though there is fierce competition for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills. There is a need for all employers to collaborate to produce enough young talent here in the UK. This is particularly true when it come to engineering, where there is a drive to encourage girls to think about skills they might need. It’s all about helping young people make the right choices and pursue the skills that UK plc will need in the next 20 years to remain competitive.When asked what things education should focus on to prepare for a chosen career the research showed that 60% of young people choose career advice, work experience or employment skills. However, around half feel that the careers advice being offered is not currently working for them. In addition, 71% would like careers advice to start from a much earlier age.
All the evidence suggests that young people need advice sooner to support the key decisions that they are making during their education – which subjects to choose or discount, for GCSE, A level, to stay at school, pursue vocational qualifications or higher education. Employers, from the very smallest to the largest of businesses, must find ways to participate in this parallel “careers advice” education process that young people are so desperate for.
Share this story