More than half of British businesses say young people do not have the right skills for the job when they leave school. But it’s not just an issue for sectors such as high end engineering. More than one in 10 hotels and restaurants are having problems filling vacancies. Read more
Long-term youth unemployment is costing taxpayers more than £180m a year, according to new analysis by Labour. Rachel Reeves, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, seized on the figures, arguing that youth unemployment was “a huge waste of [their] talents and potential”. Nearly 30,000 people aged 24 and under have been on the dole for longer than a year and each is estimated to cost the economy £6,243 a year in benefits and lost tax revenue. A Department for Work and Pensions
For young people looking for their first job, one of the biggest hurdles can be the interview process. However, some employers have complained of candidates who are unfamiliar with basic rules, such as shaking hands. The BBC’s Steph McGovern has been looking at the skills shortages in Britain. She has been to meet the UK Commissioner for Employment and Skills, who wants businesses to work more closely with schools to help young people start a career. Read
The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Britain’s universities, with almost a quarter of university students running their own business or planning to do so, according to new research. The study by research firm YouthSight of 2,000 full-time undergraduate students estimated the collective turnover of student businesses is more than £44million a year. Some 24 per cent of those surveyed were running their own business or planning to start one while studying. The most popular ventures were in technology-based
According to a labour market analysis from Centre for Cities, a think tank that studies the UK’s urban economics, Youth unemployment varies considerably from city to city. Before the recession, 13.8 per cent of working population aged 16–24 was unemployed compared with 16.2 per cent today. At 5.9 per cent of young claimants, Oxford has the lowest long-term unemployment, while Warrington has the highest, with over a quarter of unemployed young people looking for work for a year or more. Overall, youth unemployment
