How Can the UK’s Recruitment Industry Help with the Youth Unemployment Problem?
Because of the global financial crisis, unemployment amidst youth has become rampant in Europe since 2008-09. Significantly, 1/4 of the youth population in the UK who are within the age group of 16 to 24, averaging to around 1 million are presently unemployed. This crisis threatens the long term growth of the British economy.
The adverse impacts of youth employment include higher incidence of welfare benefits paid to the unemployed and the loss of potential tax revenue.
Poor economic prospects lead to emigration, besides unemployment. For instance, due to stagnancy in the economy in Ireland, during the last five years, large numbers of educated unemployed youths have left the country.
Even during the boom days of the UK economy, a large number of youth were striving hard to secure suitable jobs. Terence Tse, an associate professor of finance at the London Campus of the ESCP Europe Business School, attributes this trend to the lack of the basic professional skills of youths that employers seek.
New Horizons in the UK Job Market
The recent trend in the UK economy exhibits a growth again with an estimated 1.9% during 2013. At the same time, The Economist Intelligence Unit has made a forecast that the acceleration of growth will touch 2.5 percent mark, this year.
The overall rate of unemployment has declined to 7.1% for the three months ending November 2013 which is the lowest in the last three years. It was 8.4% during 2011.
However, for youths within the age group of 16 to 24, the effect of economic rebound has been slower at a meager 0.5% compared to 20% in the previous year.
The government has adopted a number of policies and programs to tackle the problem. The age for full-time compulsory education will be gradually increased to 18 in 2015.
Jobcenter Plus, a service extended by the UK Department for Work and Pensions, extends assistance for job searches and for preparing suitable Curriculum Vitae (CVs).
Inspired by the Youth Apprentice Programs adopted by the government of Germany, corporate sectors are coming forward to tackle the unemployment problem. Germany has the lowest incidence of youth unemployment because of close collaboration between business institutions, educational organizations and the government.
Barclays, a London-based financial services company, has been carrying out its own apprenticeship programs for the recruitment and training of the youths. Other companies like Randstad are also collaborating with schools and the government for reviewing the curricula and exploring the best ways and means for arming graduates and apprentices with the skills sought to excel in the job market.
Business in the community, a non-profit organization, promotes the CSR among multi-nationals in the UK in helping mobilize the hospitality sector to create 130,000 apprenticeship work placements for youth, supported by government funding.
Category: Featured, Student News
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