Unemployable? UK’s youngest generation harbours £6.7bn of digital skills
21 August 2012
While youth unemployment has risen of late and caused national concern, research from telecommunications firm O2 suggests that within the community of 1m unemployed young people in the UK there are digital skills, which could be worth up to £6.7bn.
Tue, 21 Aug 2012
While youth unemployment has risen of late and caused national concern, research from telecommunications firm O2 suggests that within the community of 1m unemployed young people in the UK there are digital skills, which could be worth up to £6.7bn.
The mobile operator’s study also found that businesses expect 21% of growth over the next three years to come through digital channels and that 77% of businesses acknowledge that young people have digital skills in abundance.It also shows that digital skills were on a par with new business development and customer acquisition abilities in terms of skills companies would like to acquire.
O2 chief executive Ronan Dunne said: “There are more than a million young people out of work. It’s a travesty that whilst businesses are crying out for digital skills, they are excluding from the workplace the very people who have them.”
O2 itself is increasing the number of paid apprenticeships and internships it offers to encourage those with less experience to enter the job market. It is also operating digital work skills days and its parent company Telefonica is hosting digital skills event Campus Party in Berlin this month, alongside technology body Futura Networks.
While youth unemployment has risen of late and caused national concern, research from telecommunications firm O2 suggests that within the community of 1m unemployed young people in the UK there are digital skills, which could be worth up to £6.7bn.
The mobile operator’s study also found that businesses expect 21% of growth over the next three years to come through digital channels and that 77% of businesses acknowledge that young people have digital skills in abundance.It also shows that digital skills were on a par with new business development and customer acquisition abilities in terms of skills companies would like to acquire.
O2 chief executive Ronan Dunne said: “There are more than a million young people out of work. It’s a travesty that whilst businesses are crying out for digital skills, they are excluding from the workplace the very people who have them.”
O2 itself is increasing the number of paid apprenticeships and internships it offers to encourage those with less experience to enter the job market. It is also operating digital work skills days and its parent company Telefonica is hosting digital skills event Campus Party in Berlin this month, alongside technology body Futura Networks.
