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Increased IT training “crucial” for UK job market

The REC has called for UK education reforms to focus specifically on IT to ward off the recession-fuelled expectations gap between employers and job-seekers.

By Martin James, 7 Jul 2010 at 09:30

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An increased focus on IT training is essential to avoid the creation of a “lost generation” of 16 to 24-year-olds unable to find unemployment.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation's (REC) Youth Employment Taskforce believes urgent action is needed to bridge the increasing gap into the professional workplace for a growing number of young people who have been unable to find employment due to the recent recession.

In a report issued this week, the Taskforce warns of an “expectations gap” between job-seekers and employers, and calls for pro-active campaigns to accelerate the take-up of so-called “STEM subjects” (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) before the problem becomes any worse.

“Progress is crucial for UK competitiveness,” the report warns.

“This is an issue which should concern us all,” said Baroness Margaret Prosser, vice chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and head of the Taskforce.

“The direct cost of youth unemployment has been put at £4.7 billion a year and we know from previous recessions that significant periods of unemployment early in a young person’s working life have serious consequences on their future job prospects,” Baroness Prosser added.

“In the current climate, we cannot expect any increase in Government funding. What we do expect is for funding to be effectively targeted and to deliver real progress. Employers, recruiters, welfare providers, trade unions and educationalists all have a critical role to play in addressing one the greatest challenges facing our society.”

The Taskforce's other recommendations include reforming career services to give young people a better understanding of the workplace, business and recruiters working with education providers on employer-led career guidance and the creation of technical academies and training schemes to stimulate vocational training.

“The Government must do everything possible to facilitate job creation in the private sector,” said REC chief executive Kevin Green on the delivery of the Taskforce report. “The cuts in public sector jobs have heightened the sense of urgency and the need for concrete action if we are to avoid the threat of a lost generation.”