Are you concerned about youth skills development?

The recent World Youth Skills Day on July 15th gives cause to reflect on the work going on in Buckinghamshire to equip tomorrow’s leaders and workers with the skills and confidence they need to make the best of themselves.

Teaching the younger generation about the realities of work, helping them to be as work ready as possible after leaving education, and inspiring them to dream big, are challenges and privileges that our local business community has.

Buckinghamshire's youth lacking vital skills?

Over the years, surveys of businesses have revealed that Buckinghamshire’s employers are more likely to feel that local young people are less prepared for work compared to businesses nationally, and that the young people in their local talent pool lack the literacy and numeracy skills, common sense and correct attitude necessary for work. Frustratingly, employers also often cite a lack of working world experience as a downside to hiring young people straight out of education.

Local businesses supporting young people

Buckinghamshire Business First works in partnership with the Buckinghamshire Skills Hub to encourage links between businesses and local schools, colleges and students. Through this work we hope to bridge the gap between business and education, enabling young people to get a taste of the workplace, learn from people in business, understand what they need to do in school or college to attain a certain job role, and gain confidence that they can achieve success in their career.

We’ve seen some great examples in our local area recently, including:

  • Silverson Machines, manufacturers of high shear mixers, hosting a visit from Year 7s at The Misbourne School, providing tours, information and advice on which subjects to study in order to progress into different manufacturing roles
  • Auberge du Chocolat providing an open work experience allowing young people to choose the type of work they want to do during their placement to best suit their aspirations
  • McAfee offering careers advice to students on how to secure roles within the cyber security industry, and running coding workshops for young people

Contact the Buckinghamshire Skills Hub for more information on how your business can support young people with a workplace visit, work experience, mentoring and more. Email jackie@btvlep.co.uk for more details.

BTVLEP announced as Careers Hub

Buckinghamshire Skills Hub is based at the Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership which has just been announced by the Department for Education as one of 20 Careers Hubs around England that will work with colleges, universities, training providers, employers and careers professionals to implement recognised careers gold standards in 21 local schools. The support on offer includes bursaries for schools and colleges to train careers leaders, and access to funding for schools to support employer encounters like the ones mentioned above. These Careers Hubs form a key part of the government’s Careers Strategy, announced in 2017.

Bucks Skills Show 2018

As well as this, one of the highlights of the business calendar, the Bucks Skills Show, takes place this year on October 12th & 13th at The Gateway in Aylesbury. The event is Buckinghamshire’s largest interactive skills and careers event, designed for young people, teachers, parents and carers to come and meet businesses from a wide range of sectors to learn more about young people’s future career options. Sectors such as engineering, technology, manufacturing, media and creative, life sciences, retail, and hospitality and leisure are covered.

Jackie Campbell, Skills Development Manager at Buckinghamshire Skills Hub, said the evidence for attending the event is compelling: “94% of people attending the Bucks Skills Show in 2017 said they now feel better informed to choose career or education next steps. It’s an opportunity for young people to discover their future and be inspired, and a unique chance to meet employers from Bosch to Pinewood Studios, the NHS to the InterContinental Hotels Group, and McAfee to Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, all under the same roof.”

This year’s headline sponsor is Bosch, who aim to “fuel the imaginations of the brightest young minds”. Steffen Hoffmann, President, Bosch UK, explained why Bosch is the headline sponsor of the Bucks Skills Show: “The UK is facing a critical shortage of new engineers entering the workforce, and the problem is made worse by the lack of women entering the profession. Young people have the ambition to solve problems and change the world, and the talent to deliver it. Our involvement with the Bucks Skills Show aims to shine a light on their potential capabilities and develop their skills - we want to fuel the imaginations of the brightest young minds by asking them to think how connectivity might transform our lives.”

Visit wannabebucks.org/bucks-skills-show for more details.