Movement to Work is a voluntary collaboration of UK employers committed to tackling youth unemployment through provision of high quality vocational training and work experience opportunities for young people.
Volunteer as an Enterprise Adviser (EA) and partner with a secondary school or college to support them in the development and implementation of their careers strategy, ensuring all students are prepared and inspired for the fast-changing world of work.
Working with the Careers Leader and wider senior leaders of the school or college, EAs help to build connections between employers and education to improve young people’s career prospects. EAs provide valuable employer perspective to the Careers Leaders, as well as supporting the integration of careers in the school or college’s wider curriculum, putting opportunities with local employers at the heart of a young person’s education.
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It’s been a strange year with many of us re-creating work environments at home, becoming home-school teachers and trying to appreciate what we have as opposed to what we miss. There’s much of 2020 that we’d likely rather put behind us, but what we cannot forget is the countless young people who have born the brunt of job losses, now suffer a distinct lack of opportunity, and have lost the ability to see a career trajectory they can be excited about.
As we approach year-end and finalise our business planning for 2021, I’m thinking not just of the targets of our objectives but also the how: Does our plan for 2021 strategically address future talent development nationwide? Are we helping to create truly supportive and inclusive environments and not just delivery/ output metrics?
Given the nature of what Movement to Work (MtW) is – a small but mighty core team that works through and with numerous partners for our delivery – as CEO I’ve been committed to looking at our own house as well as pushing agendas in others. I am passionate about developing a positive internal environment for my team (despite us all now working remotely!) that allows everyone to be the best they can be. If I don’t uphold that standard at MtW, how can we then do the critical job of supporting and challenging businesses to do more their side?
In 2021, Movement to Work (MtW) remains committed to working with employers to create brilliant opportunities for young people, and pushing government to create an environment that enables businesses to easily welcome those young people furthest from the labour market.
All too often in business, when we are planning we focus on new innovations, the next big thing, but I wonder if we think enough about nurturing what we already have and developing its potential? I was struck this year in conversations about ‘Powering the North’ which focused on attracting young people back from the South. However, even in the context of pre- COVID high levels of unemployment, I challenge us to think about nurturing the talent that already exists in the North. Imagine a young person who was disengaged at school due to instability at home – she doesn’t have GCSE maths but she may have strong finance skills having run the families budget from an early age. How do we challenge our recruitment processes to embrace the experience and the potential as opposed to closing the door based purely on letters on a sheet of paper? How do we shift hiring-culture to see the importance of nurturing what we have before us as opposed to striving for an ‘A* best’ candidate to simply pick up and run with? What needs to change in business to see the individual holistically rather than via how they perform on a test or what they bring to an awkward virtual interview? These are questions we’re holding.
Young people need opportunities, jobs, and careers to see the art of the possible, to have barriers broken down. As part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there’s a focus on ‘levelling up’ and ensuring this is available for everyone – focusing on those furthest away from economic stability. As we approach a period of high unemployment and let’s not forget what Brexit might bring, we mustn’t forget our social commitment and SDG driven responsibility of levelling up. We need to dig deep and ensure we focus on continuing to support young people who face multiple barriers as our first priority. They are, of course, a vital part of the future of any nation and we should seek to pave a way that is solid and exciting – not uncertain and scary.
Working environments that enable us all to be the best we can be, that listen to our lived experiences and see your value as a human being, are the environments we should be creating at work and home (and working from home!). With this in I mind, I hope we take time between now and 2021 to consider what pledges we can make for the year ahead to allow young people to thrive despite the challenges we face.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the very best for 2021.
Sam
#YoungPeopleWork
Sam Olsen – Movement to Work CEO
Sam joined Movement to Work in February 2020, coming in as an experienced Whitehall senior civil servant where she held the position, Deputy Director for Social Work Reform within the Department for Education (DfE) driving two major workforce reforms. She also chaired the department’s disability group, championing inclusion and diversity across the department. She was previously Deputy Director of the Business Partnerships team in the Cabinet Office with oversight of private sector engagement across a range of Prime Ministerial priority policy areas.
Before that, Sam was Director of Strategy and Development at St Christopher’s Fellowship where she had lead responsibility for developing fundraising, marketing and communications strategies which would support the delivery of a sustainable future for the organisation. Previously, Sam spent 10 years working with Virgin Atlantic – highlights including the start-up of Virgin Nigeria whilst living in Lagos as the VAA Country Manager and developing a Multi-National Sales team.
She is a keen skier and a passionate supporter of her kids playing rugby, cricket and hockey. On weekends, Sam loves to cook for her friends and family.
As part of the Spending Review 2020, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a ‘Restart’ scheme of £2.9 billion to help unemployed people find work. The scheme is designed to help one million people in the UK find work after the impact of COVID-19, through additional training courses and local partnerships. The scheme will target those who have been out of work for over a year, providing them with regular, intensive support tailored to their circumstances.
To find out more about the Restart scheme, click HERE.
West Midlands based charity EmployabilityUK joins the Movement to Work network! Di Vernon, CEO for EmployabilityUK explains, “Our charity works to improve the confidence, aspirations and work readiness of young people. Our partnership with MtW is key to reaching more unemployed young people and the Kickstart Scheme is an opportunity to transform their lives. By partnering with us, employers can be assured that they are working with an agile charity, offering a comprehensive package of support”.
Speakers for Schools is partnering with Britain’s most environmentally focused employers to tackle the unemployment crisis. In April 2021, Speakers for Schools will be kicking off their Green Skill Week, introducing young people (11+) to sector leaders and potential employers within Green technology and finance. The week will include valuable insight days, practical experiences and access to unique training and recruitment opportunities.
For more information, and to see how you can get involved, click HERE.
During the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spending Review speech, he announced a new youth fund, titled the Youth Covid-19 Fund; an “emergency funding package to protect the immediate future of grassroots and national youth organisations across the country”. It is hoped that this financial support will help mitigate the impact of lost income over winter due to Covid-19, and ensure services that provide vital support can remain open. Further details, including eligibility and how to apply, are yet to be announced.
For more information, see the Government’s press release HERE.
On 25th November, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Government’s spending plans for the next year, in the 2020 Spending Review. This review, that usually covers 3-4 years, has been adapted to only cover one year, in response to the ever-changing situation of Covid-19 and resulting financial measures required.
The headlines for youth employment are:
£2.9 billion ‘Restart’ scheme for the long term unemployed to get regular, intensive jobs support tailored to their circumstances (specifics to be announced);
An extra £1.4bn of new funding to increase JobCentre Plus capacity to allow more people searching for work to get support;
For apprenticeships: incentives (money for hiring apprentices) extended until March 2021; ‘front-loaded training’ allowed for construction and health and social care from April 2021; and changes to the apprenticeship levy system;
Additional funding for Traineeships;
£291 million to pay for more young people to go into further education;
Increase in National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, with the latter being extended to those aged 23 and over;
Announcement of the Youth Investment Fund (more information to follow).
To read the 2020 Spending Review in full, click HERE.
Government has confirmed that from April 2021, adults without A-Levels (or equivalent) will be eligible to study for a free Level 3 qualification, as part of its new Lifetime Skills Guarantee. All courses have been selected to ensure good job prospects, considering factors like wages, which skills are in demand by employers, and which skills are essential for society and the growth of key sectors.
There are nearly 400 courses on offer in a range of different sectors, from construction, manufacturing and agriculture, to digital, ICT, health and social care. For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-skills-fund
In addition, new Skills Bootcamps offer flexible courses of just 12-16 weeks, giving adults aged 19+ the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. These are currently available in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Lancashire, the Liverpool City Region, the Leeds City Region, Heart of the Southwest, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. If you live in one of these areas, visit your local authority website to find out more. In 2021, Skills Bootcamps will expand into new regions with even more course subjects on offer.
This announcement should be of interest to three key audiences:
Prospective learners – the Level 3 offer is available to adults aged 24 and above without an existing Level 3 qualification (equivalent to A Levels) in England, whilst Skills Bootcamps are available to adults aged 19+ in six locations.
Employers – Government would like to raise awareness of how these key parts of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee can help employers in key sectors fill their skills gaps and for them to encourage their staff to take advantage of the opportunities available.
Providers – Government needs to support providers in preparing for increased interest in their courses, ahead of Level 3 qualification offer becoming available in April 2021.
Call to action:
Adult Learners – Find out more at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national- skills-fund
Contact the National Careers Service today for advice on your next step.
Employers – Find out more at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national- skills-fund
Providers -Visit https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-skills-fund to see the full course list
Why is this important?
Tens of thousands of adults will be able to benefit from almost 400 free courses next year, in the first major development in the Lifetime Skills Guarantee announced by the Prime Minister in September.
The fully-funded courses, ranging from engineering to healthcare to conservation, will be available to adults without a full qualification at Level 3 (A-level equivalent) from April 2021 to help them gain in- demand skills and open up further job opportunities.
Designed to help our country build back after the pandemic, the qualifications have been carefully chosen to help adults improve their career prospects and meet the needs of the economy.
This announcement marks an important step in the development of the Government’s landmark Lifetime Skills Guarantee, which will transform the skills system to ensure more people, no matter their age or background, can get the skills they need to progress in employment.
Backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund, the new courses will be available from April to all adults without a full Level 3 (A-level equivalent) qualification and will open doors to new and better jobs.
This funding will not only enable thousands of adults to gain new qualifications and access better job opportunities; a proportion will also be used to support providers to scale up their provision to deliver the courses and meet the needs of learners.
Since 2018, Movement to Work Head of Outreach Debs Gordonhas supported employers with the delivery of their work placement programmes, in partnership with training providers and youth outreach organisations. Previously a Director of Resourcing at Centrica, Debs has a deep understanding of the strategic design and operation of the recruitment lifecycle and in this blog, she shares her recent reflections including: What are some of the emerging themes to support employees? Which skills are in demand? What is happening to social mobility?
VIRTUAL LEARNING AND VIRTUAL WORK EXPERIENCE
Virtual learning and virtual work experience are now part of the employability landscape and, most likely, here to stay. Advantages to employers include larger cohorts and the ability to reach many people who are challenged geographically, physically or need to learn flexibly. I anticipate the future will be a combination of virtual and face-to-face employability learning dependent upon the skill set, e.g. digital, IT and some customer service may continue to operate remotely whereas other skill sets requiring presence at a site or office are currently and will continue to utilise a blended approach of virtual and physical presence rather than solely face-to-face.
Alongside the above advantages of increased reach and flexibility is the disadvantage of those being left further behind due to a lack of connectivity and digital skills awareness. For those granted a device and access, support cannot end there. Many need guidance to effectively use the tools necessary to operate in today’s business world, such as that provided by the Department for Education’s Skills Tool Kit.
I have now seen a number of virtual ideas in action and would be delighted to share if you are considering virtual in your organisation.
COLLABORATION
I am delighted to see many of us coming together to support those who are having a tough time.
Springboard, the hospitality training charity, has revolutionised its careers portal, www.careerscope.uk.net. CareerScope now pools the support available from five key partners – Springboard, UK Hospitality, Institute of Hospitality, Hospitality Action and Savoy Educational Trust. Advice and support (e.g. redundancy, financial, wellbeing), training, career advice and jobs are now in one place. Also, Springboard to 2022, will be training 10,000 young people over the next 18 months to ensure they are ready for work as the industry recovers from the pandemic.
As labour demand in travel, hospitality and much of the retail market collapsed, demand in food production, plus associated transport and delivery services, massively outstripped supply. Staffline which owns PeoplePlus, quickly launched two initiatives, Feed the Nation and Deliver to the Nation.
So far, these initiatives have supported over 25,000 people who have lost their jobs to reskill and secure employment with recruiting organisations.
Andrew Porter, Group Resourcing Director and Marisol Milsom, Head of Social Resourcing Programmes for Capita are working with The Youth Group to deliver great initiatives. They invite collaboration by creating a ‘collective’ of like-minded organisations to support youth employment. You can read more here on Andrew’s recent LinkedIn Blog.
IN-DEMAND: HEALTHCARE
The NHS employs more than 1.5 million people and offers over 350 different roles. Health Education England (HEE) supports those from underrepresented backgrounds to access careers in healthcare. HEE has launched a national NHS work experience network to connect and share good practice and are assessing the potential for a national NHS work experience management platform. These initiatives provide a national resource repository including toolkits to support both face-to-face and online work experience initiatives. Find out more: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/ and https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/
IN-DEMAND: DIGITAL
In October, LinkedIn stated that 150 million tech jobs will be available globally over the next five years. Microsoft has launched a UK campaign, ‘Get on 2021’ to help 1.5 million people build careers in technology and help 300,000 connect to tech job opportunities (find out more here). Additionally, working with LinkedIn to establish the top 10 most advertised jobs, Microsoft along with GitHub has produced skills training for these in-demand jobs. These courses are currently free until March 2021. Find them here: https://opportunity.linkedin.com/en-us
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is expanding its ‘re/Start’ programme in EMEA. AWS re/Start partners to access certain groups, i.e. NEET, those leaving the care sector, returners etc. A 12-week bootcamp prepares the student to become an AWS practitioner. Support to secure a job is also provided. Find out more: https://aws.amazon.com/training/restart/
IN-DEMAND: CONSTRUCTION
““Construction has a massive impact on the performance of the wider economy; for every £1 spent on construction output, an additional £2.84 of total economic activity is generated.” – Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) strategic plan, 2021 – 2025. CITB is investing £110m for apprentices and employers, on top of grant support, supporting 28,000 taster experiences, investment in Go-Construct, and using the Grants Scheme plus other funding to help employers invest in training, to first rebuild after the pandemic and then to modernise and raise productivity. Find out more: https://www.citb.co.uk/about-citb/what-we-do/mission-and-plans/#
IN-DEMAND: GREEN
Spending Review 2020 states that the recovery from Covid-19 must be green which impacts many industries. Transport and logistics as one of our growth industries and highest-emitting sectors has prioritised investment to zero-emission vehicles, homes and buildings need to be net zero-ready and there is investment in clean energy technologies. This includes a Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Fund and additional investment in low hydrogen carbon production, offshore wind, and nuclear power. In our new green space, there is a smorgasbord of opportunities for all age groups. Speakers for Schools will launch ‘Green Skills Week ‘in April 2021, targeted at 14-19-year-olds – this is a great platform for us all to educate ourselves. Find out more: https://bit.ly/3oievP6.
SOCIAL MOBILITY
Many businesses want to include social mobility objectives and there is a growing trend to link social mobility targets to supply chain contracts. Below is some information (in alphabetical order) and contact details if you would like to know more.
Care leavers
“Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the care leavers we support through our Employment, Training & Skills programmes. We have seen the number of support services available to care leavers become more limited, leading to increased feelings of loneliness, mental health issues and a general increased vulnerability. Specifically, they have told us that without specialist face-to-face contact they are struggling to access crucial resources and coaching to enhance their chances of reaching positive destinations with employers.” – Rebecca Knowles, Barnardo’s Service Manager, Employment, Training & Skills.
Disabled
Published in October 2020 by Leonard Cheshire, a UK disability charity, over seven in 10 (71%) disabled employees have lost income, become unemployed or been furloughed by their employer since March 2020. This data was collected after Leonard Cheshire surveyed 1171 working-age disabled people and 502 employers. Additionally, over two in five employers (42 per cent) stated that they were discouraged from hiring a disabled person due to feeling they were unable to properly support them during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ethnic diversity
A Lloyd’s of London report titled “Ethnic Diversity in the Workplace”, which surveyed over 900 professionals in July-August of 2020 revealed that 71% of Black employees reported facing barriers when it came to recruitment. This was in comparison to only 35% of White employees. The 10,000 Black Interns programme will offer paid work experience across a wide range of sectors, providing training and development opportunities and creating a sustainable cycle of mentorship and sponsorship for the Black community. Find out more: https://www.10000blackinterns.com/programme
Ex-offenders
Duncan O’Leary from New Futures Network (NFN), the specialist part of the prison service that works with employers, confirmed that employment for people leaving prison has been secured with Greene King, The Civil Service and Government contractors, amongst other national organisations. NFN also administers a partnership programme with the major banks to ensure that people leave prison with a bank account, which is vital for accessing employment, accommodation and universal credit. Duncan can be contacted at duncan.oleary@justice.gov.uk
Refugees
Janice Lopatkin, Programme Manager for the Refugee Employment Network said:
“The effect of Covid-19 on refugee employment has meant that 1 in 3 refugees have lost their jobs and unsurprisingly the majority of those are in the hospitality and retail industry. The Refugee Employment Network (REN) is focusing on finding opportunities in industries that have the potential for growth in the coming months and therefore we are working with supermarkets, care providers and construction companies. In addition, we are looking at local needs by assessing the opportunities for employment is in the NE, NW and Midlands areas of England. Refugee employment is always challenging and it has been made more difficult by the pandemic. REN needs more than ever to partner with Movement to Work who can access training and jobs for refugees so they can start to rebuild their lives in the UK.”
The above highlights the perils facing many as unemployment and particularly youth unemployment escalates. Training providers are receiving feedback that employers worry about supporting work experience and vocational opportunities. MtW continues to collaborate, support and promote initiatives which will lead to employment. One such initiative is the Ride Out Recession Alliance (RORA) launched by The Big Issue, which is all about sharing and helping mobilise ideas by working as one.
Debs Gordon is Head of Outreach for Movement to Work, a vibrant not-for-profit community of UK employers, youth-outreach organisations, training providers and government allies – all aiming to level the playing field for young age people aged 16-30 facing barriers to work.
Neptune Energy has teamed up with Movement to Work to identify opportunities like work placements, that help to break the ‘no experience, no job’ cycle that many young people face. Movement to Work’s CEO, Sam Olsen, said: “Movement to Work is delighted to have Neptune Energy as a partner committed to supporting our young people during this challenging period and beyond. We hope many other employers will continue to join us in the fight against youth unemployment.”
