Gatsby Benchmarks
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Great expectations
How can we get our young people to look
beyond obvious routes into employment?
sk any young person
about their dream job and
you’ll often hear the same
roles repeated: athlete,
singer, teacher, doctor. However, the
number of people wanting to do these
jobs surpasses the number of roles
available within the labour market. as teaching, medical work and media.
No young person chose the job of an
air traffic controller or tax expert – roles
which could command salaries of
£74,000 and £41,000 respectively – and
positions such as business managers
were similarly unpopular, despite
offering high salaries and progression.
What will I do? How will I do it?
A
A 2015 survey by skills provider City &
Guilds asked 3,154 young people aged
14-19 about their career aspirations,
mapping responses against the jobs
expected to be available in 2022.
It found a significant mismatch
between what young people expected
to do and where jobs are actually
going to be. Between them, survey
participants chose just 34% of the jobs
that will be created by 2022, meaning
two-thirds of new jobs were not
chosen by anybody.
For example, 3% of those surveyed
said they wanted to be a psychologist
– equivalent to 120,000 14-19 year olds
across the UK – but only 7,550
psychologist jobs are expected to be
available by 2022. The same gap was
found in other popular job sectors, such
68%
of young people
aged 14-19 want to
go to university
36 // ROUTES INTO WORK
A further issue is the ongoing belief
among young people that they need
to go to university to get a well-paid
job – unsurprising after government
targets at the turn of the century aimed
to get 50% of young people into higher
education. However, the City & Guilds
survey shows that while 68% of
students were planning on a university
education, only 30% of jobs were at
graduate level.
“This backs up what we’ve been
saying for some time,” says City & Guilds
and ILM managing director Kirstie
Donnelly. “Young people need better
and more consistent exposure to
employers and the workplace
throughout their education. It includes
the chance to take part in work
experience, hear from employers
30%
of jobs are
graduate level
about the range of jobs available and
get inspired to work in previously
unimagined areas.”
One route becoming increasingly
popular is apprenticeships, with many
employers now offering young people
a route straight into work.
Learn about apprenticeships
City & Guilds Group is encouraging
young people to learn about this route
through its Apprentice Connect
scheme, which helps current and
former apprentices speak to young
people about their experiences. After
receiving training on presentation
techniques and networking, these
apprentice ‘ambassadors’ speak at
assemblies and hold workshops for
smaller groups of young people, talking
about their career paths.
The 120 ambassadors come from a
variety of locations around the UK and
sectors, including the arts, telecoms,
engineering and construction.
According to Lauren Roberts, the
programme’s youth engagement
co-ordinator, more than 47,000 young
people have already learned about
opportunities through the scheme.