School leavers not work ready, say business owners in Manchester and Cheshire

Schools and colleges could be doing more to make leavers better prepared for work, according to business owners across Cheshire and Greater Manchester.

A recent Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) survey asked members based in the Manchester and North Cheshire region what they thought about the training and skills of young adults.

When the poll asked participants if they thought education providers equipped leavers with necessary workplace skills, only 4% answered ‘yes’, while 61% responded ‘no’ and a further 35% considered the answer to be ‘hit and miss’.

The organisation’s regional chairman, Simon Edmondson, said: “It’s a pretty disappointing assessment of the education system, and quite frankly demonstrates a worrying lack of confidence among the business community in the ability of our education providers to do their job to an acceptable standard.

“While our survey is only a snapshot, there will be many people rightly concerned that business owners have such a low opinion of so many raw recruits who turn up for work having just left the education system. This has to be addressed.”

The survey also quizzed FSB members in Manchester and North Cheshire on which skill sets they believed to be most lacking with new starters. Overall, 5% said maths, 11% considered it to be English and 44% said ‘general work-ready skills’ were the biggest concern. Further, more than a third (40%) of the respondents answered the question with ‘all of the above’.

Simon continued: “Quite clearly the vast majority of business owners who responded feel youngsters too often turn up for work completely unprepared, and it’s high time we looked to schools and colleges to address this issue, not to mention parents.

“Turning up on time, in appropriate attire, and knowing that they shouldn’t be on their phones every two minutes are basic skills all school leavers should have, but our members often tell us otherwise.”

To address the issue, Simon said he believes education providers should interact more with the companies in their area, to inspire leavers and draw local education and business communities closer together.