Youth Employment - Showcasing the Role of Recruiters at the Westminster Forum

By Tom Hadley, REC Director of Policy 

Is government policy starting to make an impact on youth unemployment, can the business community do more and what initiatives are making a difference on the ground? These were the issues we were invited to address at the recent Westminster Employment Forum on 'Preparing young people for work'.

The event was an opportunity to flag the positive role of recruiters and to exchange views with government officials, academics, business bodies and key organisation like City & Guilds and the Education & Employers Taskforce.  There was huge interest in some of our recent data - In particular, the high demand for new staff across many sectors and the fact that candidate availability declining at its fastest rate for 15 years according to the latest REC/KPMG Report on Jobs. With over 80% of employers planning to recruit more staff in the next three months (according to the REC JobsOutlook report) the need to address the current skills disconnect will become ever more pressing.

So what needs to be done? Our Youth Employment Taskforce in 2010 made specific recommendations on promoting apprenticeships and creating   incentives for business to hire young people. Progress has been made in both these areas but one major weakness is the lack of an effective careers guidance network.  Employers and recruiters want to make a difference by working with local schools and colleges but there remains a need for a co-ordinated and effective guidance network.

The feedback from the conference floor was that it is not only crucial to raise awareness of the skills employers are looking for and what sectors are hiring - we also need to raise awareness of new ways of working.  One in seven people in this country work now as a freelancer. That’s a message we need to be getting over to young people, the fact that there are different ways of working, particularly in key sectors like creative industries, technology construction.

One final theme we touched on at the Forum was whether the business community could do things differently when recruiting.  Some employers have had the same job description for 10 years - could they do more to shake things up and bring more young people into the jobs market? One of the underlying aims of the REC’s recently launched Good Recruitment Campaign is to get more businesses to review current hiring procedures and selection criteria.

We will continue to showcase proactive initiatives such as our Youth Employment Charter and the Good Recruitment Campaign. Being invited to speak at high-profile events such as the Westminster Employment Forum is a sure sign that the recruitment industry remains at the forefront of the youth employment debate. For more information on our work around youth employment please email kate.shoesmith@rec.uk.com.