23.01.13
CIPD warns of poor career advice for young people
There is a “mismatch” between students’ skills and employers’ expectations, the CIPD has warned.
A new survey found that 53% of employers believe that young people receive inadequate careers advice and that 63% lack insight into the working world.
The evidence forms part of the CIPD’s submission to the Education Select Committee report into careers’ guidance for young people. The Government must improve the information and guidance about jobs and career paths for young people, the organisation urged.
The CIPD adds that there is an “alarming” lack of knowledge about the different job sectors and occupations, leading to not enough pupils studying subjects required for certain jobs.
The link between providers and businesses must be strengthened to give pupils the opportunity to hear directly from employers about different career paths, it suggests.
Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD said: “There has never been a golden age of careers advice in schools and unfortunately it has failed to develop in response to the increasing complexities of the labour market, causing problems for both young people and employers. There is an already a worrying mismatch between the skills employers need and the skills the next generation of workers are focusing on.
“A critical way to help resolve this is to increase the emphasis on careers advice in schools and to get employers into schools more regularly, bringing to life the natures of different careers, and the generic and specific skills they’re looking for when they recruit. The good news is that our Learning to Work programme has found a widespread willingness amongst employers to get into the classroom.
“The challenge for government is to work with schools and colleges to prioritise and make it easier for employers to make good on their desire to talk to their future workforce. We welcome the recommendations for improved careers advice laid out by the Education Select Committee and feel that employer involvement will be most effective if it takes place in the context of a coherent programme of careers advice and guidance implemented by schools.”
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