Alan Milburn’s recent Young People and Work: Diagnostic Report shone a very bright spotlight on the one million young people who are not in education, employment or training – NEET for short, estimating the cumulative annual cost to the nation at £125bn.
What received less attention is the estimate that the number of NEETs is set to rise by an additional 500,000-to-800,000 in the next five years. Education and Employers has spent the last six months producing a detailed 248-page report to best inform what could be done to help young people be better prepared for their careers and reduce the chances of them becoming NEET: Work Experience; past, present and future.
Building on our 2014 research, which found that young people who recalled “four or more” impactful encounters with the world of work were significantly less likely to become NEET, new research commissioned for our report finds that young people who experienced the highest levels of employer engagement before the age of 16 have 80% lower odds of becoming NEET than those with the least.
However, the report finds that 81% of young people currently rely on family and friends to find their own work experience placements, with those from well-connected backgrounds often securing the best opportunities. Our research shows that employers and schools are very supportive of the concept of work experience but find the practicalities, logistics, and bureaucracy both challenging and off-putting.
Here are five things civil servants and departments can do to make a difference:
- Our study found that only 22% of government departments mention work experience on their website. Government departments could communicate much more clearly the existing work experience opportunities they provide and how to navigate the often-opaque application process.
- Government could take the lead by further opening up more of its own departments and arm’s-length bodies to provide work experience opportunities. This could range from organising open days – perhaps as part of a national week of action – through to providing in-person work placements at both pre-16 and post-16 level. This would set a clear and visible example for other employers to follow.
- Civil servants at all levels could be encouraged to volunteer an hour of their time every year to chat with children and young people about their work. As well as in-person talks, virtual talks can make a massive difference in tackling geographical differences and inequalities that impact who young people get to meet. Our report calculates that there are 4,470 senior civil servants based in London compared with just 105 in the East Midlands. The Inspiring the Future programme makes it very simple for people to volunteer and for schools to contact them, an approach cited as a global exemplar by the OECD and replicated in other countries.
- Government could use its convening power to bring together the leaders of the main organisations representing education and business, both nationally and regionally. This will help build the cross-party ownership needed to outlast any single administration.
- A radical overhaul of government-provided careers information could be commissioned, making it genuinely useful, interactive and designed for young people and their parents and carers. Alongside this, a single, authoritative and practical national guidance resource, hosted on GOV.UK, should set out clearly why employers ought to offer work experience, the benefits for young people, the business case and how to get involved. There should also be a separate guide for schools covering what is expected, what support is available and how to get started.
If we act now, we can help ensure today’s one million NEETs don't become tomorrow’s two million.
Nick Chambers is chief executive of the charity Education and Employers