On the surface, the UK unemployment figures released today look like ‘Good News’. Yet another reduction to ‘just’ 2.5m. At 7.8% that’s about the lowest in Europe and would make any Greek, Spaniard or Italian very envious.
The problem – particularly for someone like me who has put a lot of effort into the Prince’s Trust in the last 10+ years – is that youth unemployment is on the rise again. Up from 957K to 975K. Or, put another way, nearly 40% of all the unemployed people in the UK are aged between 16 and 24. A 20%+ youth unemployment rate.
What to do about it? The campaign to create more apprenticeships is gaining traction. We need to up that pace. All the studies I have seen show that youth employment initiatives from real companies are many, many times more effective than those run by third parties, colleges and the like. We need to get all the major players in the UK market – and that particularly includes IT – to pledge to create apprenticeships at all levels suitable for 16-24 year olds. Not just the graduate level but the kind of roles that would suit those with minimal academic qualifications too. Fujitsu managed that with their 300 support entry-level jobs. See Fujitsu to create 300 support services jobs. Atos are taking on 90 non-graduate apprentices this year. See More good news on apprenticeships. So there is no reason others can’t too. I am also a great believer in work experience– even unpaid work experience. Again companies should pledge to do more here. And, HMGovt could provide more incentives for companies to take on such youngsters as well as favouring such companies in the award of public sector tenders.
If we breed a whole generation of young unemployed, the effect on our society will be severe. Just as the UK IT industry is currently paying the price for not training its own IT people over the last decade, we as a society will pay a heavy price in the decades to come for not tackling youth unemployment today.