Employment prospects for young people continuing to rise

According to the latest Labour Market Outlook from the CIPD, a third of employers are now looking to apprenticeships to fill vacancies, whilst a quarter want to recruit more graduates

Employment prospects for young people continuing to rise

Whilst for many of us the recession ended quite some time ago, it’s fair to say that it’s taken young people a long time to really feel the benefits of economic recovery. But, having faced down a volatile employment market, spiralling education costs, accusations of being under skilled and almost a decade of wage stagnation, it seems that things are finally looking up for young people in the UK.

According to the latest Labour Market Outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), many more employers are looking to young talent to ease their recruitment woes. The report reveals that 33% of employers are now turning to apprenticeships as a means of dealing with hard to fill vacancies; this is up from just 22% in spring 2014. Meanwhile, just over a quarter are looking to recruit more graduates and 12% will look to hire school leavers, up from 9% in spring 2014.

But, whilst employment prospects are looking up for young people, it seems that growth in wages still remains on the low side. The Labour Market Outlook has shown that the median increase in basic pay over the last year is 2%; almost a quarter of employers gave at least a 3% increase in wages over the last year, whilst a fifth put a freeze on pay. Over the coming year, 14% of employers intend to freeze pay and a fifth will look to give raises of 3% or more. On average, the growth in wages is predicted to grow by 2% over the next year.

“After a long, dark decade, the prospects for young people are finally looking brighter. The tightening labour market is undoubtedly encouraging more employers to turn to a wider range of younger recruits,” said Gerwyn Davies, labour market analyst at the CIPD. “However, employers need to support this recruitment drive by ensuring that they have the people management practices in place to support the effective utilisation of skills, which is critical to job retention and productivity.”

 Given that Britain’s future ultimately rests in their hands, it’s about time that young people got a break in the employment market. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Josh Russell
Josh Russell
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