Generation Now with Jane Mason: The value of work experience

With employers saying that they value work experience over academic qualifications in prospective employees, surely now is the time for businesses to practise what they preach?

Last week I was privileged to attend a workshop jointly organised by the Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership and Buckinghamshire County Council that brought together secondary school and college leaders. The idea was to get them thinking about how they would like to work with employers to improve opportunities for their students to gain insight and experience of the world of work. The keynote speaker at the event was Michael Davis, Chief Executive of the UK Commission of Employment and Skills, and it was great to hear him talking about the insights their research gives us into recruitment and labour market trends and the impact of these trends on young people.

One of the key findings he pointed out was that 66% of recruiting employers say that having work experience is a critical or significant factor in their decision to appoint. Another was that only 57% of recruiting employers say good GCSEs in English and maths is a critical or significant factor and 49% say the same about academic qualifications generally. To an audience of educators I think that this finding came as a bit of a shock as their predominant focus, the way that they are frequently judged, is to support young people to achieve the best they can academically, and A* to C grades in English and maths are two of the ways they are judged and ordered in league tables.

Another research insight is that the number of young people earning through part-time employment while they are in education has decreased over the last 10 years. Data from the UK and other European countries show that the higher the ‘earning while learning’ rate is, the lower the youth unemployment rate is after leaving education.

So what does this mean to you as an employer and how can you help to ensure that your future workforce, the people who will drive your future business growth and prosperity, is prepared for the world of work?

Well, the same research that found 66% of recruiting employers say that having work experience is a critical or significant factor in their decision to appoint also identified that only 38% of employers offered work experience placements. So, there’s an obvious gap that needs to be filled between what we say and what we do.

Almost 40% of employers offering work experience say they do so because it provides corporate benefit, while 11% of employers said that they used work experience as a recruitment tool. These figures show that there are tangible benefits for employers in offering work experience and at Buckinghamshire Business First we want to make it easier for you to offer a work experience placement. Look out for ways you can get involved in the coming weeks!

In the meantime, if you would like to offer a work experience placement now, contact us on 01296 568944.

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