FEATURE

Investing in future talent

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

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The Chamber Policy team share insight into workforce development. In the Chamber’s Q1 quarterly economic report we asked some extra questions about investment plans for 2022. Top of the list was investment in technology but the second most popular choice was investment in early talent development such as apprenticeships, internships and industrial placements. Given nearly 70% of firms in Q1 said they had struggled to fill vacancies this should be viewed as a positive step to try and solve labour market challenges.

These challenges are not likely to dissipate in a hurry with ONS data released in April showing unemployment rate at around 3.7% overall. In May the number of job vacancies stood at around 1.3m, outnumbering the number of unemployed people for the first time. However for those aged 16-24 in Yorkshire, the unemployment rate currently stands at 9.5%. Whilst this is down considerably from the dark days of 2012 where it peaked at 26%, this still equates to around 32,000 unemployed young people. This seems such a waste and begs the question whether we are doing everything we can to prepare young people for the world of work. As employers could we be playing a part in this? In a report published recently (May 2022) by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, called Meet The Future, they set out the positive impact which employers can have through engaging with schools. More importantly they point to a strong correlation between level of engagements by young people with business and their future life outcomes. The study followed thousands of students over a ten year period, from ‘classroom to workplace’, and came to the conclusion that young people who had participated in employer-led careers activities had lower levels of youth unemployment, got paid more and had greater job satisfaction. In 2012 following conversations about the availability of talent with regional manufacturing companies we set up a working group made up of industry leaders to discuss what we could do. The view from this group was that we must do more to engage with secondary education and raise awareness of the fantastic opportunities which existed in the region. Whilst this proved harder than expected, it ultimately led to the successful delivery of a new school in the region, West Yorkshire’s first University Technical College which opened on Hunslet Road in Leeds in September 2016. However our key reflections are that it is the ongoing involvement of businesses in helping contextualise the learning that is having such a significant impact on student outcomes; this echoes strongly with the OECD conclusions. As their report says, authentic voices and authentic experiences. We hear similar feedback from young people engaging with the two annual Chamber manufacturing initiatives, Bradford Manufacturing Weeks and Leeds Manufacturing Festival. Bringing the world of work to life is very powerful. But it is also a win for businesses as they get a chance to set out their stall and attract applicants for job vacancies and apprenticeships. Employer engagement can take many forms, and all have some impact. Examples include • Career Talks (especially from your younger employees) • Job fairs • CV workshops and practice interviews • Workplace visits • Job shadowing • Work placements • Coaching and mentoring The good thing for our region is that if companies want play a role there are established initiatives to help. Some web links are listed below. As businesses we cannot sit back and do nothing on this and whilst it isn’t without some cost, be that time or resources, there is payback. View it an investment into your future workforce development.

Useful links:

North Yorkshire Business Education Partnership www.nybep.org.uk Leeds City Region Education Ambassadors www.the-lep.com/skills/theschools-partnership-team The Ahead Partnership www.aheadpartnership.org.uk The Opportunity Centre theopportunitycentre.com