Theme 1: Project 3 – Getting in and Getting on in the Youth Labour Market: Entry Practices, Under-Employment and Skill Formation in Regional Economies

What the project did

That today’s young people lack necessary employability skills and are insufficiently ‘job ready’ on leaving education has been a dominant political discourse within Western societies for nearly fifty years. The fact that many young people routinely face challenges in accessing good quality work and careers of choice has been of high concern for governments, employers, academic researchers, media and families alike. The economic recession of 2008 to 2012 deepened anxieties still further, as youth unemployment spiralled across Europe. Perceived as damaging for a competitive and sustainable economy, a key activation within the UK, as in other Western economies, has been to invest in bespoke training schemes to enhance young people’s workplace-specific skills and employment rates. Across the diverse regions of the UK, as well as across the spectrum of industrial and occupational sectors, a broad range of work ‘entry route’ schemes have burgeoned for young people of all social and educational backgrounds.  Project 1.3. investigated five different schemes in five locations across the UK to explore how successful these are in terms of enabling young people from a diverse range of backgrounds to access work in their local regional economies. The research drew on ethnographic methodologies to study the aims, motivations and experiences of regional youth employment policies and policy-makers; employability trainers and young people themselves. To capture some of the diversity encompassed within youth training, the project examined apprenticeships in the Midlands; employability skills in the Northeast; enterprise on the South Coast; internships in London and volunteering in Glasgow, Scotland. As well as observing each scheme for extended periods, over 100 interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed.

Findings

• A broad range of youth employability training schemes exist across the regions of the UK. Regional and local employment policies play a key role in defining the format of training and skills identified for funding and support. Policies differ on whether, for example, basic employability skills, volunteering, enterprise skills, and/or internships are identified as productive in securing access to paid employment in the local region.
• Youth training policies are not always clearly related to sector-specific employment opportunities available in local regions. The focus is often on enhancing young people’s individual skills in the round rather than matching these to specific skills gaps and needs.
• Training is most often provided by third sector organisations who struggle to find meaningful work experience placements with local employers. In particular, private sector employers demonstrate little engagement with and support for local youth employability schemes.
• Young people’s ‘on-the-job’ skills training may therefore be restricted to other voluntary sector organisations, and transition to paid jobs in other sectors can be difficult. Some young people become trapped on the ‘ring-road’ of employability training schemes.
• For some, the transition from school to paid work is too big a leap. More time for skills and personal development, workplace awareness and work experience is needed. Pre-apprenticeship programmes, specifically designed with a local employer to enable young people to meet sector-specific requirements and expectations, will support more young people into work and skills needs as well as increase the talent pool available to employers.
• Training schemes which provide good quality and meaningful work experience and on-going mentorship stand out as models of good practice. However, social and educational background continues to endure in defining access to such opportunities.
• The metric of paid employment may not be appropriate for some young people. Many young people on employability schemes face challenges with family support, housing, mental health and caring responsibilities. Recognition of and support from employers for these challenges is scant.

Impact

Commissioned by two of the case study sites, two reports were published (to be found at: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/386705/ and https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/415432/. ) These outlined key elements of best practice identified within the training schemes as well as recommendations for local and national youth employment policy. Mr. Billy MacFarlane, the Learning and Employability Services Manager at Volunteer Glasgow responded:

We have received great feedback from other bodies around the report and has led me into discussions with a new Public Social Partnership looking to support people with addiction problems, who think if the PSP can get the funding then Volunteering Works might also be a good model for this group of people. It is also being considered as a model for ex-offenders coming out of prison and we are in discussions with the local Community Justice Authority regarding this. Both of these are at early stages, but the report has been well received by these groups and has helped us to promote our services.

Mr Neil Burke, Regional Development Officer at Youth Focus Northeast responded:

It gives a very detailed insight into the programme and verifies a lot of what I personally believe contributes towards the success of the programme. One of these points is how you have evidenced that the activity based teaching and learning methods which are different to compulsory educational approaches contribute to the quality of the programme. This has been a firm belief of mine from the time of when we first delivered the programme. I believe that the fact that young people were involved in the creation of these makes it such which also aligns with how your findings that involving young people in course design also works well. Young people know what they and their peers enjoy and find engaging therefore I believe that it is crucial other providers adopt this co-production approach.

Another part of the report which chimes with my personal beliefs is the importance of work experience as a hook which appeals to young people. I believe that this has always been a useful part of the programme which makes recruitment easier and provides learners with the opportunity to apply their learning in a work place setting. However I also acknowledge and agree with your findings that this part of the programme can be challenging for ourselves. This is because of the policies and procedures which surround it and the difficulty in getting employers to offer real quality experiences. Following reading the report I had a think of future opportunities which could be open to the programme. One which springs to mind is the fact that the report provides a lot of evidence that RTSG is well liked by young people and is effective in supporting them through a number of ways. Again I believe this is because young people have been involved in its design. With this in mind, I believe that the programme could actually support training providers more and be bolted on to the start of sector skills training or even further, that training providers need to involve young people in developing their sector skills programme. Can Youth Focus: North East play a role in this development.

In January 2017 Professor Leonard was invited to attend a Cabinet Office Think Tank Event on Youth Policy and to use the findings from Project 1.3. to write a Briefing Paper for Theresa May (then Home Secretary) on Young People and Work.  This was then forwarded to the Inclusive Economy Team who were: ‘particularly interested in your employer commitment idea. The other ideas might fit better elsewhere so I’ve contacted colleagues in Cabinet Office and DCMS for advice on how to take them forward’ C. Webber Cabinet Office

In December 2018 Professor Leonard discussed project findings with two policymakers from BEIS, as part of a broad scoping review on Work Futures. She has been invited to lead a seminar on Work Futures to be held at BEIS  in Spring 2019. 

Selected Publications:

Hoskins, B., Leonard, P., & Wilde, R. (2017). ‘Negotiating Uncertain Economic Times: Youth Employment Strategies in England.’ British Educational Research Journal, pp. 1-24.

Wilde, R. J., & Leonard, P. (2018). ‘Youth Enterprise: the Role of Gender and Life Stage in motivations, Aspirations and Measures of Success.’ Journal of Education and Work, 31(2), 144-158.

Leonard, P. and Wilde, R. (2019 forthcoming) Getting in and Getting on in the Youth Labour Market: Governing Young People’s Employability in Regional Context.  Bristol University Press.