George Osborne might have looked pleased in his latest budget address, as he reported that the UK’s economy is “recovering faster than forecast”. But for some it is a jobless recovery: nearly one-in-five young people (aged between 16-24) in the UK are still unemployed. Numbers are falling—albeit slowly.
Key to solving the UK’s youth unemployment problem is to encourage collaboration across industry, according to Marcus Lee, head of resourcing at Santander. For the bank, that includes working with other financial services giants on projects such as Trailblazers, where a number of leading companies have been tasked with setting out standards on quality for apprenticeships in the UK.
Santander is also working with UK universities to place 1500 interns with SMEs, essentially acting as a talent broker. “This is about supporting the small-and-medium sized sector and getting the economy moving,” says Mr Lee. In the future, the hope is to extend the same principle to apprenticeships. Last year, the bank had 600 applicants pass the first level of screening for its Retail apprenticeships, but was only able to offer 80 places. “Young people know that if they’re looking for a career in financial services, they can apply to the big banks—the brands known in the market,” explains Mr Lee but, despite an increase in the number of places available to 220 this year, space is limited and companies such as Santander should leverage the pool of talent available to them to help smaller, independent firms.
The bank itself has no trouble hiring among 16-24 year olds, according to Mr Lee. Around 40% of the hires that Santander makes are from people aged 24 and below. One explanation is that back in 2009-2010 Santander decided to onshore a number of positions, which tend to suit entry level applicants. According to Mr Lee, other organisations may find it more difficult to hire young people if they have offshored a significant proportion of their entry-level positions, effectively reducing their hiring capacity and will need to think about the problem differently.
Another explanation, says Mr Lee, is that Santander places great value on soft skills and general attitudes than on technical skills and knowledge, making it easier for those lacking in work experience. “What’s important for us is that people, no matter what age, have a great attitude, understand how to communicate with customers and have a strong work ethic. There’s certainly an element of training needed, but that’s true of anyone that might join us,” adds Mr Lee.
Asked to give a tip for young people looking for jobs, Mr Lee says it’s about using everything at their disposal to market themselves to employers. For example, if someone runs the Race for Life—5 or 10 kilometre runs organised by Cancer Research UK—it means they know how to set a goal, how to deliver against it, and how to use their networks to make an impact (in this case through fundraising), and can display they’re committed to achieving this. These are all attributes that employers crave, and which can be demonstrated through what is essentially a short Sunday morning run in the park.
For more analysis on youth unemployment in the UK, read our series of articles, “Wasted youth?”
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU) or any other member of The Economist Group. The Economist Group (including the EIU) cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this article or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the article.
