'Lost generation’: why can’t young people get jobs? What should be done?

As I said before, volunteering or not working is cannot be afforded by many families. Mine had to find paid work even if it wasn’t related to their degree. We couldn’t afford to sub them completely (I still fed and housed them) I couldn’t be doing with grown adults sitting about the house whilst I went out to work. It’s disrespectful

Silvershadow

Volunteering can often lead to a paid job. They learn skills such as communication, teamwork, following instructions, getting somewhere on time. All skills required for a paid role.

Agreed Silvershadow.

My grandson volunteered in the local village community shop (run by volunteers) every Saturday morning for 18 months while he was at school.

It really helped him develop an understanding of ‘the world of work’. When he applied for uni places he was able to include this on his personal statement.

It also helped him get part time work during student hols.

Getting up early every Saturday morning to work as a community volunteer certainly paid dividends for him.

So true! The rush to send every school leaver to university even if their degree was in something completely useless in the workplace has turned out a bunch of young people who believe they’re something special and deserve a 6 figure salary straight away! No real work ethic. No real idea of what they want to do!

It’s what they call “the perfect storm” the low paid joke kids used to do which gave them some experience in the workplace and proved their ability to time keep, turn up, work hard etc and gain a good reference/reputation are gone.
A lot of entry level jobs are either mechanised or given to foreign workers who are paid less!
Generations of kids brought up on social security so don’t see why they should have to work!
Kids brought up to believe everyone’s a winner even if they put zero effort in they get a reward! Real life’s not like that!
Minimum wage increases compulsory pension schemes and employers NI contribution raised so many small businesses cannot afford staff. Red tape and onerous regulations.
Pension age raised so that older people are still in work and there’s no room for progression for those below in age or status.
High cost of living meaning state pensions often not enough and people go back into the lower paid jobs for money to make ends meet.
But apparently “boomers” are the problem!

It might not be the solution but it is certainly part of the cause!

kjmpde

There is no compulsory retirement age so many people are working past their state pension age. I know of at least 3 people who have decided to continue at work - not due to money but because it occupies their time . Pensioners are even taking Saturday jobs which would normally be given to young people.

Delivery jobs, both in vans like Amazon, or on foot with free newspapers and flyers are also attractive jobs to give shape to the week

fancythat

^Yes I have to admit, in our local supermarkets, chemist, garden centres the workforce is mainly older^

Penion age keeps going up.
Older people are in work for longer.
Meaning yet more less jobs for people.
Not critising anyone, just a fact of life in the Uk currently.

I agree fancythat

With the cost of living crisis (council tax, petrol, domestic energy, water, oh yes and the trivial one, food) and older people on fixed incomes, it's unsurprising that a few half days on the till in the supermarket or working at the garden centre, makes a huge difference.

Obviously younger people want proper, permanent, full-time jobs, but pensioners doing random sessions on minimum wage fits the business model in retail of long opening hours better.

There is no compulsory retirement age so many people are working past their state pension age. I know of at least 3 people who have decided to continue at work - not due to money but because it occupies their time . Pensioners are even taking Saturday jobs which would normally be given to young people.

Just one small idea is to cut the extra tax that was given on small companies as it is small companies that want to employ cheap young people.

gransruleok

Back when my girls were young, women stayed at home to raise their family, I’m 80 and I was frequently heard blaming the lack of parental control on working mothers, because when a woman came home from work, she was exhausted, running a home and raising children is hard enough, without having a Job outside the home. Now, women are being forced to work when a lot of them would rather be there for their youngsters. Now the government are wondering why there are no jobs left for school leavers. I can do the math, why can’t they?

No, I can't accept that the solution is to stop mothers from working.

That's why the Connexions service should never have been scrapped. It's going to take years to train people to be competent advisers. The government could do worse than start that process now.

valdali

I think bringing back a careers interview for everyone is a good idea.Difficult job though, the world of work seems to be hard to second-guess these days - and the ways of getting into things are changing.
Just as we can't expect these young people to behave as we did at their age, I also don't think that young people can expect work to be like school either.
eg if you make a mistake at work, you have to try not to do it again. Managers / boss can try to understand what went wrong (more training? Too much asked of them too early?) but young people have to do their best to meet expectations even if they find some of them unappealing.

Bringing back career interviews for all is a great idea but only if the person conducting the interview is completely au fait with what employers of today actually want. If this is just an interview by one of the teachers with no particular expertise in the area then it's ineffective.
A long time ago I know but my career interview was with the geography teacher who advised all girls to go into teaching or nursing and the boys to go into the forces.

Back when my girls were young, women stayed at home to raise their family, I’m 80 and I was frequently heard blaming the lack of parental control on working mothers, because when a woman came home from work, she was exhausted, running a home and raising children is hard enough, without having a Job outside the home. Now, women are being forced to work when a lot of them would rather be there for their youngsters. Now the government are wondering why there are no jobs left for school leavers. I can do the math, why can’t they?

MOnica I agree entirely with all of your comments re the current generation and their 'fragility'. Well said.

Cossy- unsure what you mean by "proper schools career officers". I left high school in the early 70's in what would now be described as a socially deprived area. The school careers officer was absolutely useless & totally uninterested. I realised I would have to make my own way in life (college & university were not an option). I do recall telling him I wouldn't mind his job just to get some reaction from him.

MissAdventure

They can use A.I to do a C.V now.
My neighbours son did hers, using it, and i couldn't believe it was the same person it was about!
Not one word of a lie on it, but it was fantastic.

That will be a meeting of minds as it’s likely to be a BOT reading it 😂

Warmglovesandsocks

From what I have read it seems AI could be the problem. A lot of interviewing is done via AI and prospective employees are not making it through the AI questions.

It is certainly a problem for many. Candidates need to understand the buzz words. They also need to look very carefully at the job specification and make sure they fulfil requirements. Many people don't - and that's been the case from before AI was used to filter applications.

I think you are on to something here. Agree.

To JaneJudge as your answer was very informative. It’s a pity that there is a cut off point of 19 for FE. Courses are long, lasting 2 or 3 years for A levels. So, it seems that unless you study more than one subject at a time there isn’t much time to improve a CV before starting to pay for your courses. Education is also helpful when anticipating a career change. However, I find the courses on offer are horrendously expensive. I look at them, because although I’m retired and elderly I still love learning.

There are some opportunities out there for employment. Nursing for example as hospitals are very short staffed and probably in other sectors.

Maybe more astute careers advice would be helpful as young people are not always aware of the jobs that they could apply for, though I agree the job market today is tough.

From what I have read it seems AI could be the problem. A lot of interviewing is done via AI and prospective employees are not making it through the AI questions.

I personally think the fact that the pension age keeps increasing doesn’t help and being able and need to carry on working means the job market is not moving .also my son has stopped hiring people for his business as the cost of NI , wages and the new employment laws make it prohibitive

My daughter found relevant work through her degree, and did work experience in her summer breaks, as did her female peer. The boys did pub/burger work and took summer holidays.

The 2 girls walked into first jobs, albeit at low wages. The boys really struggled and took up to 2 year, some taking full time at their weekend burger type jobs to get in

Speaks for itself.

1. Get the kids to manage their expectations about their worth

2. Help them with CV, job application advices

3. Reinstate the Connexions service that gives them information about careers and what they need for entry.

4. Subsidise entry positions

5. Reinstate pension age and provide working pensioners with information and access to all the support/benefits they need

The workplace has changed so much since even my children were at school.
My DD took a straight path- starting like I did with small baby-sitting jobs, then working in cafes etc whilst at Uni.
Like many. she had to move away from home to find the work that matched her skills, but she took redunancy whilst on mat leave and then found it hard to return to the workplace after a three year break. Since then she has worked in three different places and is now starting her fourth. Being prepared to move around and be versatile certainly helps rather that thinking you have a job for life anymore.
My son likewise started weekend work at MacDonalds, didn't grauate from Uni and has had more jobs than you can count with varying levels of pay and good prospects. Now he works for himself as a gardener and just about breaks even. The workplace is tough for the middle aged too!
What children need to be taught are transferable skills, particularly communication skills, and adaptability- the ability to think I don't know what that is but I'll learn about it. With access to on-line learning now there is really no excuse except a lack of resilience and a willingness to take risks.
Factor in the geography of where you live, and the fact that sometimes you have to leave home to find work, is sometimes a step too far for some.
Investing in children- leisure, social and education is absolutely paramount but no one cares about the kids anymore....

Volunteering can often lead to a paid job. They learn skills such as communication, teamwork, following instructions, getting somewhere on time. All skills required for a paid role.

Volunteering might be useful for some young people, but what we don't want is unscrupulous employers using volunteers as replacements for paid staff.