Young people lack skills for employment – Survey

Young people are less employable than they were 10 years ago because of a lack of skills due to poor education, a survey suggests.

The poll, by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), said 76% of executives agreed that failures in the education system were fuelling a skills crisis that was damaging the economy.

A high number of employers said they had encountered problems with young people’s discipline and punctuality (61%), workplace skills (63%) and attitude and ambition (66%).

Of the 600 managers surveyed, 47% agreed that business involvement in the education process would improve the employability of young people.

But, when asked, less than half of them said they were currently working with a school in order to do so.

Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the CMI, said bad management was a serious issue in the UK with only one in five bosses professionally trained to be managers.

“The cycle has to be broken and the only way to do so is for schools and employers to work together.

“This is how students will learn to lead and the UK can develop the leadership skills needed to make Britain competitive.”

The Tomorrow’s Leaders survey was released to mark the launch of Campus CMI – a programme developed with employers to improve the management skills of young people.

Source: Sky News