Recruiters back government move to push holiday jobs for young people

Recruiters have backed the work and pensions secretary’s move to place 20,000 summer jobs on to the government’s Find a Job website to arrest the decline of teens taking holiday jobs.

Writing in the Telegraph this week, Esther McVey warned of a decline in the number of young people taking summer jobs, meaning they are missing out on essential skills that make them more employable.

Graduate recruitment agencies Recruiter spoke to this morning backed McVey’s move.

Dan Hawes, co-founder at Graduate Recruitment Bureau, told Recruiter he welcomed any initiative that enabled young people to gain work skills through summer jobs.

“As someone who had a part-time job at 13 doing a paper round and working in a fruit shop, I think I benefitted from that discipline and built up various skills going on to work in offices.

“I think it is a great initiative; employers are crying out for ‘work-ready’ youngsters, graduates, apprentices, so anything that puts them in a stronger position in the eyes of employers is a good thing.”

James Callander, managing director at FreshMinds, agreed, arguing a better link needs to be established between young people and the workplace.

“Getting work experience, whether it’s a day, a week or two weeks or a Saturday job, is good for getting people to be culturally locked in to the idea that it’s good to work. 

“It builds up self-confidence, understanding of the workplace, customer service.

“It’s not that you want lots of 14-year-old accountants out there. I think it’s trying to find something practical that one can do that will help your social skills at work.”

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