Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 29 January 2013
29 Jan 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Make Young People Your Business
I, too, thank James Dornan for bringing the debate to the chamber. Young people who are just leaving education are extremely important to the Scottish economy. Business needs young, educated people—whether they are coming straight from school or from further or higher education—in order to help businesses grow. That in turn will help those businesses stave off the effects of the current slow economy. Recruiting straight from education is an efficient way of building an effective and productive workforce.
Despite the fact that the majority of businesses that recruit staff straight from education find young people well prepared for the workplace, only 25 per cent of businesses in Scotland have recruited straight from an education environment in the past two to three years.
There seems to be an inherent problem for young people looking for work. Companies want young people with experience, but those young people cannot get that experience without gaining employment in the first place. That is where the make young people your business campaign has the most to offer. By highlighting that problem, we can move on to helping young people gain employment by increasing their employability skills.
There are many advantages to recruiting young, educated people. In today’s workplace, with the advancement of technology, many markets are changing rapidly and rely on a youthful customer base. By employing young people, our companies will be able to utilise their fresh ideas and approaches, which in turn will help to open up new and emerging markets.
The make young people your business campaign is keen to point out that schemes such as modern apprenticeships often pay for themselves very quickly. Also, offering young people work placements helps to take the risk out of recruitment, as the placement acts as a trial period for both parties before any formal commitment is made by offering a job. At the end of the placement, if the company feels that it cannot offer a job to the person, that placement will still have given them invaluable experience that they will be able to put to use in other jobs that they go on to apply for.
As I said, most businesses find that people who have just left education are prepared for work: 86 per cent of businesses believe that university leavers are prepared for work; and 60 per cent believe that school leavers are prepared for the working environment. If that is the case, why are businesses so reluctant to use that valuable resource?
We must make Scottish business aware of the many benefits in recruiting young educated people and help them to recruit those young people. Steps are already being taken to do that. Skills Development Scotland is seeking the support of employers that would consider offering disadvantaged young people opportunities for sustainable employment in their business, and payments of £1,500 are available through the employer recruitment incentive. In addition, talent Scotland offers a free service for employers that includes job advertising, company promotion and access to graduates.
Those are just some of the many schemes available to employers to encourage them to employ young people straight from education. For years, we have been telling young people to get a good education so that they can get a good job. For that statement to be true, we must help employers to see the advantages of employing young people in their companies. The make young people your business campaign is a good way in which to do that.
17:51
Despite the fact that the majority of businesses that recruit staff straight from education find young people well prepared for the workplace, only 25 per cent of businesses in Scotland have recruited straight from an education environment in the past two to three years.
There seems to be an inherent problem for young people looking for work. Companies want young people with experience, but those young people cannot get that experience without gaining employment in the first place. That is where the make young people your business campaign has the most to offer. By highlighting that problem, we can move on to helping young people gain employment by increasing their employability skills.
There are many advantages to recruiting young, educated people. In today’s workplace, with the advancement of technology, many markets are changing rapidly and rely on a youthful customer base. By employing young people, our companies will be able to utilise their fresh ideas and approaches, which in turn will help to open up new and emerging markets.
The make young people your business campaign is keen to point out that schemes such as modern apprenticeships often pay for themselves very quickly. Also, offering young people work placements helps to take the risk out of recruitment, as the placement acts as a trial period for both parties before any formal commitment is made by offering a job. At the end of the placement, if the company feels that it cannot offer a job to the person, that placement will still have given them invaluable experience that they will be able to put to use in other jobs that they go on to apply for.
As I said, most businesses find that people who have just left education are prepared for work: 86 per cent of businesses believe that university leavers are prepared for work; and 60 per cent believe that school leavers are prepared for the working environment. If that is the case, why are businesses so reluctant to use that valuable resource?
We must make Scottish business aware of the many benefits in recruiting young educated people and help them to recruit those young people. Steps are already being taken to do that. Skills Development Scotland is seeking the support of employers that would consider offering disadvantaged young people opportunities for sustainable employment in their business, and payments of £1,500 are available through the employer recruitment incentive. In addition, talent Scotland offers a free service for employers that includes job advertising, company promotion and access to graduates.
Those are just some of the many schemes available to employers to encourage them to employ young people straight from education. For years, we have been telling young people to get a good education so that they can get a good job. For that statement to be true, we must help employers to see the advantages of employing young people in their companies. The make young people your business campaign is a good way in which to do that.
17:51
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott)
Con
The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-05252, in the name of James Dornan, on the make young people your business campa...
James Dornan (Glasgow Cathcart) (SNP)
SNP
I am delighted to be able to bring to the chamber a debate on the new Skills Development Scotland campaign called make young people your business.There is no...
David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP)
SNP
I thank James Dornan for bringing the debate to the chamber. Make young people your business encourages employers to recruit young people straight from schoo...
Margaret McCulloch (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
This is not the first time that I have spoken in Parliament about youth employment, and it is certainly not the first time that Parliament has considered a m...
Richard Lyle (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I, too, thank James Dornan for bringing the debate to the chamber. Young people who are just leaving education are extremely important to the Scottish econom...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I, too, thank James Dornan for securing the make young people your business debate. I was delighted to hear his praise for Langside College and the work that...
Linda Fabiani (East Kilbride) (SNP)
SNP
I, too, thank James Dornan. For me, the sentence in his motion that stuck out was this one:“there is a false perception that young people who come straight f...
The Minister for Youth Employment (Angela Constance)
SNP
I, too, congratulate James Dornan on securing this debate. He has made the case in a very heartfelt way for recruiting young people. I also pay tribute to hi...