Job market challenge

Aug 18 2010 by James Ramsbotham, North East Chamber of Commerce

THIS week, thousands of young people across the North East will receive their A-level results, a major milestone in their lives and a great opportunity for businesses to bolster their workforce with home-grown talent.

There is often an assumption that A-level students should go to university and study for a degree, but it isn’t always the right career path for every school leaver.

This year demand for university places is at a record high and universities are warning that government budget cuts could result in fewer places being available, which could leave some school leavers looking at other career options. This provides an opportunity for businesses to recruit high calibre school leavers.

Creating real career opportunities for young people gives them a choice about whether to develop their talents in the work place, or the university lecture theatre.

Providing them with opportunities, so they continue to learn valuable skills and gain experience means we will reduce the risk of our home-grown talent moving to work in other areas of the country, so we retain a skills base.

We are working against a backdrop of latest figures from the Office of National Statistics which show unemployment in the region increased by 1,000 to 120,000 for the quarter to June 2010.

We must recognise that the Government’s plans to scrap the default retirement age and increase the pension age is likely to see an increase in older people entering the job market.

At the same time, the public sector is being hard hit by budget cuts.

As a result, many have imposed a recruitment freeze on all but the most specialist vacancies, which young people are unlikely to have the skills or experience to apply for.

These factors mean that there are going to be more people applying for fewer jobs. Opportunities available to young people, who have less experience, are therefore reduced.

To counter this, we need to create more opportunities for young people in the job market or risk increasing the ‘brain drain’ flowing out of the North East.

Businesses and the public sector need to look at apprenticeships and other work opportunities for school leavers, so they can get a foot on the employment ladder and start building a career here in the North East.

In essence, we need a diverse job market which offers a variety of opportunities for all age ranges, skills and experience, so that our economy can continue to recover.

James Ramsbotham is chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce.