2. – Pablo Picasso
“I am always doing that which I can not do,
in order that I may learn how to do it”
3. 61% of employers believe that young
people’s employment expectations
are too high
Source: Making Education Work: Preparing Young People for the Workplace, City and Guilds, 2013
4. “Young people do not understand what
employers are looking for, so many don’t
get past the interview stage (62%).”
Source: Making Education Work: Preparing Young People for the Workplace, City and Guilds, 2013
5. Important factors for employers:
85% - Attitude
58% - Aptitude
Source: Inspiring Growth: Education and Skills Survey, CBI/Pearson Education, 2015
66% - Business & customer awareness
61% - Self-management
73% - Literacy and numeracy
49% - Communication skills
50% - awareness of working life
They believe that young people’s employment expectations
are too high (61%) and that young people do not understand what employers are
looking for in their new recruits, so many don’t get past the interview stage (62%)
They believe that young people’s employment expectations
are too high (61%) and that young people do not understand what employers are
looking for in their new recruits, so many don’t get past the interview stage (62%)
• By far the most important factors employers weigh
up when recruiting school and college leavers are
attitudes (85%) and aptitudes (58%). These rank
well ahead of formal qualifications
• A majority of businesses remain concerned about
the preparation of school leavers in important
areas including business and customer awareness
(66%), self-management (61%) and foreign
language skills (60%)
• Many also report room for improvement in
essential capabilities such as teamwork (31%),
literacy and use of English (37%), basic numeracy
(38%), and communication skills (49%)
• Businesses want to see primary schools
concentrating on developing pupils’ literacy and
numeracy (73%) and communication skills (46%)
• In the 11-14 phase of schooling, literacy and
numeracy (45%), self-management (42%) and
developing awareness of the world of work (39%)
head the list of business priorities
• For the 14-18 age group, employers believe a
top priority for schools and colleges should be
developing awareness of working life with support
from businesses (50%)
Employers are largely concerned that young people are less equipped for the workplace
compared to five years ago. They believe that young people’s employment expectations
are too high (61%) and that young people do not understand what employers are
looking for in their new recruits, so many don’t get past the interview stage (62%). They
are also concerned that youth unemployment is so high because young people are not
prepared for or don’t have the right attitude for the workplace (59%).
Employers worry that young people are leaving education without the right skills because
the education system is too focused on academia (49%) and does not meet the needs
of businesses (47%).
Over half of employers (58%) believe their sector is facing a skills shortage.
Employers who work in IT, Digital & Information Services (74%) and Engineering &
Manufacturing (72%) are most likely to perceive a skills shortage in their sector
On behalf of City & Guilds, Edelman
Berland conducted online interviews
with 1005 Employers in the UK from
small, medium and large
organisations. The survey was run in
September-October 2013.
Employers surveyed came from a
diverse range of industry sectors
including engineering, manufacturing,
digital and health and social care. All
have responsibility for recruiting in
their organisations.