Young People, Employability and the Induction Process

Citation

(2004), "Young People, Employability and the Induction Process", Education + Training, Vol. 46 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2004.00446aae.001

Young People, Employability and the Induction Process

Young People, Employability and the Induction Process

Steve Johnson and Tom BurdenJoseph Rowntree Foundation£14.95ISBN 1 84263 061

This study is one of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation series on "Work and Opportunity" which addresses the changing face of work, its availability and accessibility for different sections of society. Improving the employability of the UK labour force – and young people in particular – has been a focus of public policy for a number of years. This study reviews the initial work experiences of young people entering the job market to discover how those early months of work affect their long-term employability. It focuses on the experiences of both young people and employers of the process of induction.

The study presents the findings of in-depth interviews with 30 young people shortly before they started their first job and again three to six months later. Similarly in-depth interviews with employers in different sectors and size groups are reported upon. Almost without exception, employers felt that young people who had undergone a period of work experience while at school were better equipped than others for the world of work. Young people expressed similar views, although there were some misgivings about the quality of some work placements. The findings confirm that employers tend to focus upon "softer" skills and behavioural attributes in the recruitment process, with a less prominent role played by formal qualifications. Most of the young people seemed to have taken on board the message that formal qualifications are often a necessary but not sufficient condition for obtaining the types of jobs to which they aspire.

Where there does appear to be a significant divergence between the views of young people and employers is in the extent to which young people actually possess the necessary "employability" skills. By and large, the young people interviewed were confident in their ability to demonstrate these skills and attributes. Employers, on the whole, were much less positive about this, often feeling that educational institutions were focusing too strongly on academic skills and qualifications, at the expense of employability. For example:

The curriculum is not aimed towards work, it is too historical and full of things they don't need to know; it needs to be about living, reading a gas meter, getting on a bus, how to … live (Retailer).

The strengths of this report lie in its detailed case study work. It does not provide any easy answers but does succeed in surfacing and addressing the very real complexity of the induction process in the context of young people. Whilst the findings do not paint a uniform picture a number of important issues emerge. For example, there appears to be very limited recognition of the specific needs of young recruits, particularly those entering their first job. Most employers adopt a "one size fits all" induction policy that may, in some cases, be to the detriment of young recruits.

Young People, Employability and the Induction Process takes an innovative approach to the issue and challenges conventional wisdom that the education system does not prepare young people for work. It was disappointing that this study was not located in a stronger literature and research review. This would have enabled a sharpening of the research agenda. Nevertheless, the book adds a new dimension to the debate on "employability", suggesting ways in which policy can address the need to ensure young people can progress within the labour market.