Although it’s quite subdued at the moment, there’s more and more talk about an “expectations gap” between young jobseekers and recruiters. Looking at youth unemployment, the massive disparity between general and youth unemployment has some common explanations. But do these reasons tell the whole story?
Yes, less companies are recruiting, yes, investing in the future is harder in these economic times, and yes, companies can choose from a bigger pool of candidates, but are there other reasons why youth unemployment is so disproportionately high?
National unemployment is at 8.3%, whilst for 16 – 24 year olds it is a staggering 21.9%, almost 3 times as high.
I don’t want to talk about this in too much depth now, but want to ask the question. Do young people have disproportionately higher expectations? Has the reality of the economic situation spurred other groups into more action, for example into putting more effort into applications and finding employment? Equally – have young people been helped as much as other areas where there has been increasing unemployment? We are sure on one thing – Employment4students has had over 10 million jobseekers visit the site over the past few years and it’s clear that the overall advice and information that they receive about careers is not good enough.
For companies looking to recruit this is double edged sword. There are fantastic candidates out there, looking for work, but getting them to show themselves in a positive light and sell themselves to the recruiter should be easier than it in reality is.
We need some drastic improvements to help the youth of today into employment, which will help both businesses and candidates, but in the short term as a company, if you are more proactive than others, then searching harder will give you access to the best candidates and of course a competitive edge.
How do you do this? Give us a call on 0845 838 0595 and we’d be happy to see what your situation merits and how we can find you the best candidates!
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