Hansard

As Kenneth Macintosh knows, many organisations across the public sector are living with the reality of shrinking workforces. We know, as he should know, that young people are hit the hardest in a recession, and I think that we should welcome what organisations such as Perth and Kinross Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise are doing. We have to ensure that others follow them, in order to make sure that more opportunities are provided for young people and that the proportion of young people that such organisations employ is increased. I am clear that the public sector, including the Scottish Government, has to lead by example.

Much of the £9 million that has been allocated to the local authority areas that are most affected by high youth unemployment rates and levels will support young people into sustainable jobs with local companies. That will support more young people such as Lauren, who attended my Lanarkshire action forum on youth employment last month. She was about to finish work experience with Serco but had no job to go to. The good news is that she started this week as an administration assistant with a local firm, Assure Alarms, which will receive a 50 per cent wage subsidy from South Lanarkshire Council. I am sure that we all agree that that is money well spent.

As I mentioned, we will use the £25 million of European money to provide support to small businesses across Scotland that are willing to step up and offer unemployed young people a job.

Last month, the Commission for Employment and Skills published a report that showed that employers in Scotland reported higher levels of work readiness among school and college leavers than those elsewhere in the United Kingdom did. Around a quarter of employers said that they had recruited someone straight from education in the past two to three years, and the majority were satisfied with their work readiness. That demonstrates the positive impression that many young people are making on their first venture into work. However, it also tells us that three quarters of employers do not recruit young people straight from school, college and university, and I want to encourage more to do so.

The Scottish Government has confidence in the positive role that young people can play in supporting economic growth. We demonstrate that confidence with our £72 million annual investment in modern apprenticeships, which enable young employees to develop valuable occupational skills in a range of industry sectors and give their employers the opportunity to demonstrate their confidence in them by investing £7 for every £1 of public money that is invested in apprenticeships.

Some employers have negative perceptions of young people and are reluctant to recruit anyone from that age group. Of course, there are some young people who do not possess the skills and aptitudes that are most valued by employers and I am committed to doing all that I can to ensure that we address that issue.

There are other reasons why some young people are not work ready. Lack of meaningful work experience presents a significant barrier to employment, so it is important that we persuade employers to offer high-quality work placements. To ensure that young people are ready for the workplace, we all need to help build their employability skills.

The employer-led certificate of work readiness, which is being developed by Skills Development Scotland, will recognise the work readiness of 16 to 19-year-olds. Central to the certificate will be 192 hours of work experience, which will be supervised in the workplace.

Wherever I go, I promote the business case for recruiting young people. Given the pressure on businesses in the current economic climate, recruiting young people might sound counterintuitive, but I have no doubt that companies need to invest in young people to achieve the business growth that will help them to thrive when the economy recovers.

I know from the many employers of all sizes that I have met over the past few months that there is a real appetite to support our youth employment agenda. I am determined, as is this Government, to take full advantage of that.

Investing in our young people brings returns to businesses in commitment and loyalty. Young people bring creativity, innovation and a willingness to learn, and their flexibility and adaptability help to enhance productivity.

I am driving that message home across Government and our agencies. I want us to lead by example and demonstrate the benefits of investing in young people. This year, the Scottish Government will offer young people more than 150 apprenticeship or work placement opportunities, and we are increasing our efforts to ensure that all public bodies do likewise.