28 . Glasgow Business March/April 2014


“The report sets out recommendations that the group believes could really change the lives and the prospects of many young people”


In addition, the employers


represented in the action group support several hundred apprenticeships a year. Tis involvement is oſten overlooked when provision of these services is reviewed. Speaking about


the report and its recommendations,


Delegates attended Glasgow Chamber of Commerce’s Youth Employment Action Group’s launch of its recommendations at St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. Right: technology is used for audience questioning


> >Continued from page 27


apprenticeships were once viewed as an option for less academically successful students, but they are now seen as “a legitimate entry point to careers in some of our most successful businesses”. » Enterprise skills should form a key component of employment-focused training delivered in school, college or through a training provider. Te action group also recommended that youth enterprise should be a specific


About the group


The Youth Employment Action Group was established and commissioned by the Glasgow Employer Board working along with Glasgow City Council and with support from Skills Development Scotland to gather evidence and present new recommendations on increasing youth employment opportunities in the city. The group’s membership was drawn from representatives of the


Glasgow Employer Board and was co-ordinated by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce with additional support by Glasgow City Council. Its members included senior HR professionals, organisation and


development leaders and managing directors. The group met at six weekly intervals between December 2012 and


February 2014. In doing its work, the group engaged directly with and drew


evidence from young people themselves, public and third sector youth employment service providers and academics.


workstream for the newly formed Glasgow Enterprise Board. Tis recommendation


followed wide-ranging discussion on stimulating demand for jobs and changing atitudes of young people towards traditional ways of working. »Te business community should be contacted early in the city’s strategic planning for youth employment in order to enable employers to make a stronger contribution. Te action group was


impressed by the commitment from both national and local government to improving youth employment. It specifically backed the approach Glasgow has taken in the Glasgow Youth Employment Partnership. » It is essential to include youth employment programmes designed and delivered by employers in any audit of the city’s provision in this field. Within the group, all 15


employers were or had been involved in a programme aimed at improving youth employment.


Alison McRae, Projects Director at Glasgow


Chamber of Commerce, said: “Te purpose of the


action group was to develop a


co-ordinated approach to youth employment from an employer perspective, seting out key recommendations which can form the basis of a strategy to tackle the issue. “Tere are a number of


organisations within the city, and indeed Scotland-wide, which are carrying out excellent work in the area. Te report distils that experience and builds on that work, seting out recommendations that the group believes could really change the lives and the prospects of many young people.”


Glasgow youth employment: the facts


The unemployment rate for young people is higher than any other age group. The April 2012 youth unemployment rate in Glasgow, at 8.1 per cent, was above both the Scottish (6.7 per cent) and UK rates (6.35 per cent). The number of young people unemployed for more than 12 months


or more doubled between 2010 and 2012. A recent Oxford Economics study estimated that the total number


of jobs in Glasgow is not expected to regain its 2008 peak in the short to medium term – the shortfall in demand could be up to 10,000 jobs a year. The Scottish Government estimates the lifetime cost of a single year


group of young people failing to get into regular employment at around £2 billion. It is estimated that Glasgow spends £69 million a year in benefits paid out and incomes lost to key claimants groups under 25. The City Council estimates that Glasgow spends £54 million each


year on supporting youth employability – a figure that excludes spending from the Department of Work and Pensions and other national budgets.


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