Members of Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce met with authors of the publication last month and identified a mismatch between the skills taught to young people and those being prioritised by businesses. As well as competent literacy and numeracy skills, some of the missing ‘employability’ skills identified in the manifesto include a positive attitude, self-discipline, time management, organisational skills and the ability to interact and communicate effectively with others.
The manifesto, published by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) on behalf of 53 accredited Chambers across the UK, calls for more co-ordinated interaction between young people in education and employers, to prepare young people for the realities of work. It also calls for more emphasis on employability skills in the way schools are assessed and rated, clearer qualifications to help businesses understand the skills and proficiencies held by candidates and more choice for businesses receiving funding for employee training.
John Bridge OBE, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce, said: “I’m delighted that members of our Learning & Skills Sector were able to feed into the development of the manifesto. We told the British Chambers of Commerce that an ever changing global economy needs a workforce with the right skills to ensure that UK businesses prosper and our economy continues to grow. Much must be done to correct the ‘skills mismatch’ and the BCC Skills and Employment Manifesto addresses the key issues identified by Chamber member businesses.”
The Manifesto calls for:
- Ensuring that ‘employability’ skills are at the heart of how schools are assessed and rated
- Investing in quality careers
education for all young people, including regular, quality contact with a variety of employers - Using Chambers to offer independent advice and support to SMEs to increase investment in apprenticeships and workplace training
- Clear, universally understood qualifications for literacy, numeracy, computing and foreign languages
- Qualifications to be consistent and clear, to enable employers to understand an individual’s competencies
- Tax incentives for the development of foreign language and export skills
- All employment policy to become the responsibility of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
- Universities to work with Chambers of Commerce to promote enterprise among a wider range of students, and to ensure university courses are relevant to future job opportunities
- The government to give employers a choice on how they receive government funding for apprenticeships – either directly through the tax system or via their chosen training provider.
_____________________________________________________________