Employers ‘need more support to hire young people’, warns CIPD

One in four organisations has not hired an under-25 in past 12 months.

Six out of ten organisations do not offer hiring opportunities for non-graduates, even though three-quarters recognize that employers have a key role to play in tackling youth unemployment.

These are the findings of new research from the CIPD, launched today at a Department for Work and Pensions Employer Forum hosted by the CBI.

The survey of 800 employers revealed that one-quarter had not recruited anyone aged 16 to 24 in the last 12 months, and only 56 per cent intended to do so in the coming year.

But of those businesses that had employed young people, nine out of ten were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘fairly satisfied’ with their new hires.

The research is the latest output from the CIPD’s Learning to Work campaign, designed to encourage more employers to invest in their future human capital.

The CIPD report, ‘The business case for investing in young people’, highlights the imperatives for investing in this section of the workforce.

The opportunity to build a talent pipeline, the benefits of a diverse workforce that reflects its customer base, and the prospect of strengthening employer brand are just some of the advantages, said the institute.

Peter Cheese, CEO of the CIPD, explained that addressing the gap between employer perceptions and the reality of hiring young people was essential to building the country’s future skills base.

“The step change that is needed to improve education to work transitions will not be achieved through good will and government policy alone,” he said.

“We need to make the business case crystal clear. We need to promote the best routes for young people into employment, including apprenticeships, and highlight how employers can best engage with schools and colleges to work with young people in raising work awareness and employability skills.”

The CIPD’s research came as MPs warned that the government’s £1 billion Youth Contract would not be enough to tackle the “unacceptably high levels of youth unemployment”.

But the Commons work and pensions committee did praise some aspects of the scheme – which was launched last November – including increased Jobcentre Plus adviser support, work experience placements and apprenticeships.

Source: 19th September 2012, people Management, by Michelle Stevens

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2012/09/employers-need-more-support-to-hire-young-people-warns-cipd.htm