Page 8 - Neath Port Talbot Skills Report 2024

Employers across the region are reporting to the RLSP
that younger people entering the workplace are not
work ready, lack ambition and have little to no work
ethics. Of course, this is quite a generalisation but it's
important to understand the barriers faced by the
current generation of young adults and their
motivations in order to bridge the gap between their
expectations of work to the employers' expectations of
them.
A recent report compiled by City & Guilds goes into
detail on what is motivating Generation Z
Some key messages from that report below.:
In the UK 16% of 18-24-year-olds are currently not in
employment or education.
That’s roughly 859,000 young people out of work.
For NPT approximately 23% of 16–24-year-olds are
estimated to be NEET* (this equates to around 1,900)
Almost two fifths (38%) of the young people
surveyed in the report had received free school meals
at some stage during their education, highlighting
the extent of young people in the UK today who
have been impacted by childhood poverty.
One in five have been a young carer (19%)
One in seven suffers from mental or physical ill health
so severe they have been unable to work or study
(14%)
It is easy to forget these harsh realities and the
difficult start that many young people have had. This
is all during the backdrop of the pandemic where
many young people's learning cycle was hugely
disrupted affecting their confidence.
Career perception:
50% of 18-24-year-olds believe they will be earning
more than the UK’s median salary (£28,000) within
five years, whereas the reality is that 79% of all
working adults earn less than £30,000 per year.
Another example is the mismatch between
career aspirations and actual jobs. For instance:
15% of 18-24-year-olds aspire to a career in Arts,
Entertainment and Recreation, whereas the reality is
that only 2% of jobs are in this industry; meanwhile
only 2% want to work in Manufacturing, yet the
sector makes up 8% of all UK jobs. (18% in NPT)
One of the most positive things to come out of the
survey is the clear desire and willingness of most
young people (54%) to learn new skills in order to
help them advance their career prospects.
What we see therefore, is a young cohort who are
ready and willing to upskill or retrain to improve
their career opportunities, but who lack direction
and information on the realities of the labour
market,
The latest ONS figures indicate that the national
unemployment rate currently sits at just 3.6%
nationally. Young people are already significantly
overrepresented in unemployment with 12.5% of
18-24-year-olds officially classified at NEET
Worryingly, almost a third (30%) of young people
don’t think they will ever be able to achieve their
career ambitions.
64% of young people stated that it is not easy for
them to get a good job these days, most common
reason was they didn’t feel confident or mentally
ready.
Youth Misspent: Uncovering the harsh realities for Britain’s young
people in today’s job market - News (cityandguilds.com)
* Numbers based on estimates and are not statistically viable,, Data
taken from last data estimate in 2021
Labour Market – Generation Z
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