Comment: Youth outreach key to building digital skills base

Last month, Barclays announced Kilmarnock as the second town where we will roll out our Thriving Local Economies initiative, a three-year programme to supercharge local economic growth. The first step was to ask businesses their views. Top of their agenda? Skills. Only 12 per cent of Kilmarnock firms think applicants have the right skills to match their jobs.

Kirsty Mackey, MD of Citizenship & Consumer Affairs at Barclays UK, explains how to build the skills the future workforce needs. Picture: Scottish Enterprise 2019

The fourth industrial revolution is transforming economies, how people work and the skills they need. There is more self-employment, automation, an ageing population and a requirement for a mind-set of lifelong learning. How do we build the skills the future workforce needs to enable businesses to grow? It may be impossible to predict what jobs will be required but we do know the core transferable skills we’ll need. Creativity, problem solving, communication, adaptability, proactivity, leadership, resilience.

The challenge is particularly evident for young people. Unemployment rates have been improving but Scotland’s young people are still twice as likely to be unemployed than older workers. Many are left behind before they’ve even had a chance to prove their potential.

Organisations like the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland are helping to prepare young people for the world of work by fostering links between schools, colleges and industry. But there’s more to do collectively.

Studies have shown that four quality interactions with a future employer while at school can mean people are five times less likely to be unemployed, and earn more on average. Engaging with schools and colleges is something every business can do.

In 2013 Barclays launched our LifeSkills programme with the aim of inspiring and helping young people transition from education to work, ensuring they not only have appropriate academic results, but the skills businesses need.

More than 8.3 million young people in the UK have participated, with more than 4,000 educators registered across 733 institutions in Scotland. We’ve seen encouraging results; independent research confirms participants are more ambitious, motivated and better understand the skills needed for a 21st century workplace.

We also need to look through a local lens. That’s why we’ve committed to delivering LifeSkills to Kilmarnock’s secondary schools as part of Thriving Local Economies. We hope some of these young people may even end up with roles in our new Glasgow Campus, which is creating over 2,500 jobs.

Futureproofing our workforce and safeguarding skills is key to driving long-term business growth. More companies going back to school and engaging with future employees can only be a good thing. The biggest investment is time – to visit schools, work alongside them. But as LifeSkills proves, it is time well spent.

- Kirstie Mackey, MD citizenship & consumer affairs, Barclays UK.