📣 Take a look at the Movement to Work weekly round-up of #YouthEmployment related news from our Head of Insights:

 

👉  Economic ‘underutilisation’: explaining the phenomenon of high unemployment and high numbers of job vacancies

 

Research reveals that UK unemployment has fallen to historically low rates while the number of job vacancies has increased to record levels in recent quarters. 

 

However, the factors explaining this phenomenon are not straightforward- this article explores this topic by looking at the data and drawing fascinating insights.

 

👉  Government support for the cost of living crisis: new website launched

 

There is a new website dedicated to the cost of living crisis. This includes information on government support measures that are on offer across a range of subject areas. This includes a page on ‘Help finding work’ which signposts readers to the government jobs portal, JobHelp, a portal that provides advice and information on advertised jobs, as well as government pages on claiming work-related expenses. For more information, see this link. 

 

👉   Nuclear energy and free ports: government projects to provide high skilled jobs.

 

Applications for bids to open up a new free port in Wales are now open. This project chimes with the UK government’s Levelling up agenda, and strives to ‘turbocharge the surrounding economy, deliver regeneration and create high-quality jobs.’ For more information, please click on this link.

 

The UK government has allocated £3.3 million to fund ‘the next generation of nuclear reactors’ by funding 6 winning projects, in hopes to attract private investment and develop highly skilled, green jobs. Part of this fund will be spent on developing Advanced Modular Reactors at a number of locations in the UK; a vital contribution towards UK’s plans to boost its home-grown energy supplies and to modernise current infrastructure. For more detail, please follow this link.

 

👉  Removing barriers to work for people on Universal Credit

Olivia Gable from the Work Foundation wrote a fascinating article which explains some of the barriers that people on Universal Credit face when finding work. Insights include the fact that the commitment to job search activities for 35 hours a week inhibits people from undertaking training, something that can be key to securing job offers, and the fact that a lack of flexible, affordable childcare also presents a real barrier to people wishing to undertake training opportunities. For more information, as well as a list of policy recommendations, please see this article.

 

👉  Scottish Government celebrates 16,000 workplace opportunities being secured through the Young Person’s guarantee

Up to £45 million of Scottish Government funding has been invested in the Young Person’s Guarantee, an initiative which aims to connect 16-24-year-olds with an apprenticeship, work experience, volunteering, internships, enterprise opportunities and mentoring. Over 600 employers have signed up to the initiative, and more than 16,000 young people across Scotland have secured opportunities through the scheme. For more information, please see this article.

 

To read up on all these insights and more head to our dedicated research page: https://bit.ly/3IhdDEU 

 

What do you have to say? Drop your comments below 👇 #WednesdayWisdom