Getting young people 'work ready'

While 45% businesses rank work readiness as the most important factor they look for when recruiting, 44% employers feel that young people leaving school, college or university are not ‘work ready’.

These findings are echoed by young people themselves, with almost 1 in 4 young people not feeling adequately prepared by their education for the world of work.

It is more important than ever to be having this conversation. The world of work is rapidly changing which means school, society and business need to work together to make sure our education system can keep up.

Key findings

While progress is being made, employers are still raising concerns about a perceived narrowing of the school curriculum – in particular the decline in creative subjects. In addition, businesses are valuing character and wider skills more than ever before.

We know that business has a key role to play in getting young people work ready. Indeed, 72% of employers are currently engaged with schools and colleges but stand ready to do more.

This report calls on government to:

1. Rethink qualifications including GCSEs
2. Broaden the EBacc to include a creative subject
3. Work with the education sector and business to develop a framework and shared approach for essential attributes to sit alongside the Gatsby Benchmarks
4. Integrate its Youth Charter and Careers Strategy

Getting young people ‘work ready’ marks a crucial first-step in setting out a CBI vision for how education should prepare young people for the modern world.