Bristol is one of the UK’s largest economic centres, with around 17,500 businesses and thriving legal, professional services, media and education sectors. However, 16 – 24 youth unemployment remains stubbornly high at 11.3% more than double the city's overall rate, and over a quarter of the areas in Bristol are in the top 10% most deprived for access to and attainment in Education, Skills and Training.
This year, Business in the Community and the City & Guilds Group are working with business leaders and HR professionals from across Bristol to break down the barriers in the hiring process for young people. From removing jargon from job descriptions to looking at new ways to assess candidates without relying on experience, we'll be exploring how businesses can update recruitment for the next generation.
Want to find out more and get involved? Contact Lynne Flanagan, Employment Programme Manager, Bristol at lynne.flanagan@bitc.org.uk.
In May we held a workshop at The Station with young people from a wide range of different backgrounds to 'mystery shop' the websites and entry level job adverts of 13 Bristol employers. This helped us to understand some of the major barriers to employment that young people in Bristol face, and the young people made some excellent practical recommendations to the employers who participated on how they could remove these barriers. Read more about our Mystery Shopper programme here.
We wanted to explore the key regional challenges for employers who are recruiting young talent in Bristol. So on 26 June, Business in the Community, supported by the City & Guilds Group and kindly hosted by PwC, brought 38 local employers and stakeholders together for a Future Proof Assembly to explore the challenges and opportunities of recruiting young talent in the area.
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FREE WEBINAR: How can you demystify your recruitment process for young applicants?
Our research also showed that 30% of young people find the process of applying for a job difficult. For 31% of applicants a key barrier was them not knowing what was required of them at every stage, while 21% said an unclear job description made the process difficult. We want to empower companies to use new techniques to create transparent, open and accessible recruitment processes for young people. To achieve this, we would like to invite you to a one hour webinar, focusing on how you can demystify recruitment for young first time job seekers.