Partner Article

Skills shortage must be addressed

The younger generation are not ready for work once they have left education a national report has warned.

A British Chambers of Commerce Workforce survey of nearly 3,000 businesses revealed that companies in the region believe that a lack of work experience is holding youngsters back with many short of language and leadership skills.

More than 51 per cent of businesses think that graduates are unprepared, while 78 per cent agree that training was worth of investment.

Businesses told the survey that they are ready and willing to grow, but they face certain barriers and the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) on its findings, has issued a number of recommendations to address this situation.

They feel that a business governor should be on secondary school boards to increase company engagement, university students should be allowed to choose business modules on degree programmes.

To equip young people with the knowledge that they need there must be a sea of change in careers advice in schools, so that they are made more aware of the opportunities and rewards of working in key sectors which face skill shortages.

At the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) we are committed to the business leaders of the future and have seen many successful apprentices complete their programme and go onto gain full time employment either with the BIC or one of our 140 businesses on site.

Likewise they are businesses at the BIC which have undertaken a graduate programme which benefits the company as well as the graduate gaining vital experience whilst earning a wage.

NAC Group, based at the BIC, has received notable praise for their investment into youth training into the automotive sector which sees applicants achieve careers with Nissan in Sunderland. Their apprentice programme which inspires young people to follow satisfying careers in manufacturing and that is what we need more of, we need to inspire the future generations ready for when they leave education.

Unfortunately businesses feel that training, employing and just giving work experience to young people is time consuming and restrictive but work experience is vital to ensure better job prospects in the future. Research by Highfliers have said that graduates who have had no previous work experience are unlikely to successful during a selection process and have little or no chance of receiving a job offer for their organisations graduate programmes.

The region must come together to close the gaps from skill shortages addressing the youth unemployment and skills shortages. This is vital if the UK economy is to continue showing signs of growth and recovery.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Anderson CBE .