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Mutual benefit in hiring young people, says CIPD
HR News |
20/09/2012
UK businesses need young people as much as young people need jobs, a new report has claimed.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which has investigated the business case for investing in school and college leavers, there is a mutual benefit in taking on such individuals.
The HR body found that six in ten employers currently offer no entry route into their organisation for non-graduates. And a quarter have not employed anyone aged 16-24 in the last 12 months, whether graduates or not.
Just 56 plan to do so in the coming year, highlighting the problem faced by young people looking for work.
Yet many of the companies who have hired individuals from this age range have found it to be a positive, rewarding experience.
Nine out of ten were either very satisfied (26 per cent) or fairly satisfied (65 per cent) with the young people they have recruited.
And CIPD believes such organisations may have an advantage when it comes to planning for the future.
They are not only establishing a pipeline of talent for tomorrow's workforce, but diversifying their workforce, strengthening their brand as an employer and saving money by hiring and training relatively low earners.
As such, Peter Cheese, chief executive at the CIPD, claimed that employing young people has "clear benefits" to business and society.
However, he said there is some work to do in encouraging and supporting more employers to take on and develop young people.
"Addressing the gap between perceptions and reality is a key priority. It's not only fundamental to reducing youth unemployment and the long term scarring effects it can have on young people, but it's also essential in building our future skills base," Mr Cheese stated.
He claimed that the step change needed to improve education to work transitions will not be achieved through good will and government policy alone.
"Our research shows that many employers don’t always understand the benefits young people can bring to their organisation or have the right practices in place to bring [them] on and give them the best chances of success," he added.
“We need to make the business case crystal clear. We need to promote the best routes for young people in to 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."
At the same time, Mr Cheese said the government needs to continue to promote the issues and opportunities, as well as encourage businesses through funding schemes and other support mechanisms.
"We hope that together we can change the hearts and minds of those employers who have for various reasons shied away from hiring and developing young people and reverse the negative trend of youth unemployment which started to grow long before the downturn," he added.
Posted by John Lynes
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