Employers must ‘step up’ to encourage school leavers into work

Hospitality businesses must ‘step up’ and invest more time and effort into recruiting school leavers, the head of Whitbread has warned. The comments come after the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Whitbread released a report which found “very positive” trends in the way that today’s school leavers (16-19 year olds) are approaching and planning ahead for their careers. The report highlighted the ‘critical role’ businesses play in supporting school leavers as they transition into careers, and urged all employers to do more to provide careers information, open up work experience placements and invest more in exposing school and college students to the world of work. John Cridland, director general of the CBI, said: “Young people expect businesses to step up and show them the career opportunities on offer and a clear idea on how they can progress in their career. Employers are doing some great work on the ground, but we need to get more firms involved. “Many young people are worried about making their first steps outside the school gates and it’s clear that the more exposure to the world of work they get early on, from advice to work experience, the better for them.” The survey of 1,500 16 to 19 year olds found that 81% had given ‘considerable thought’ to their future career with as many as 59% thinking four or more years ahead. Some 58% said that having a future management role was important to them. Despite this, only 31% said they have received jobs or careers advice from employers with the majority (90%) of those who had received advice claiming it was a useful source of information. Andy Harrison, CEO of Whitbread, said: “This is a clear message that business needs to step up and invest more time and effort in reaching out to the next generation of employees, managers and leaders. “The next generation are telling us that they are very positive about their future work prospects and would welcome more engagement and support from business. This is a pool of future talent that we should be embracing before they even enter the workplace, helping them to fulfil their ambitions.” Meanwhile, the research also looked at the importance of work experience discovering that 80% of respondents had undertaken work experience at school or college, with 82% claiming their work experience helped them gain a better understanding of the world of work. Some 76% said that their work experience had helped them develop the skills needed in the workplace, while 68% say their work experience had helped them to decide on a career pathway. Cridland added: “The careers advice system is in a perilous state and letting young people down. It’s vital that more firms engage but to achieve this we need a fresh approach to careers in schools. The government must ensure that the new careers company has the resources it needs to transform provision.”