The East Midlands’ biggest business organisation has echoed concerns raised by its national umbrella body about the way in which young people are being prepared for the world of work.
The British Chambers of Commerce has today released the results of a new survey which found that nationally, almost nine-in-ten businesses (88%) think school leavers are unprepared for the workplace, while over half (54%) think graduates are not work-ready.
The BCC’s new Workforce Survey also suggests that stronger links must be formed between the education and business communities to address the issue.
The Chamber of Commerce for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire carried out a similar piece of research earlier this year which found that almost half (45%) of the local businesses surveyed reported they had struggled to find staff with the right skills.
It concluded that bridging the skills gap was a priority for both businesses and those in education and that closer links between the different groups involved are required to ensure solutions can be best developed and delivered.
The Chamber welcomed Education Secretary Nicky Morgan’s recent comments highlighting the importance of closer links between businesses and schools in ensuring young people leave education more work-ready. A small delegation of Chamber representatives will meet with the Loughborough MP at Whitehall later this month to discuss the practical ways in which Chambers can act as the bridge between business and education and the ways in which Government policy can support this.
Chris Hobson, the Chamber’s Head of Information and Representation, said: “The national BCC figures closely mirror the findings of our own research and provide a stark reminder that while some progress has been made on this agenda over the past couple of years there is still a lot of work to be done to address these key issues for business.
“The gap between the skills businesses need to grow and those available to them is constantly highlighted by employers as being a significant barrier to their progress.
“Failure to address the issue of giving those in the local labour market – and young people in particular – the skills and attributes wanted by those who have the jobs to offer will mean we continue to have higher levels of youth unemployment, frustration among jobseekers and employers and skills shortages in key sectors.”
