Changes at "🏛️ Youth-Led Fairer Career Support through Cross-Sector Action "
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-<p><strong>What is the issue?</strong><br>Young people are navigating outdated and fragmented systems when it comes to career advice and work experience. Many receive poor or irrelevant guidance, lack access to real-world opportunities, and face administrative or financial barriers when trying to gain meaningful experience. Employers, especially small businesses, are often willing to help but are discouraged by insurance requirements or a lack of structured support. The system currently depends too much on chance — a “lottery” — rather than equitable, planned pathways.</p><p><strong>What is being proposed?</strong></p><ol>-<li><p><strong>Incentivise better-quality work experience</strong><br>Encourage businesses to offer meaningful placements through <strong>incentives such as tax breaks, public recognition, or grants</strong>. Placements should allow young people to contribute, learn, and be treated as part of the work culture.</p></li>-<li>-<p><strong>Modernise the national career support framework</strong><br>The current model must evolve with the times. Proposals include:</p>-<ul>-<li><p><strong>Updated training for career advisors</strong> (including digital and local labour trends)</p></li>-<li><p><strong>Clear national guidelines</strong> with room for <strong>regional tailoring</strong></p></li>-<li><p>Longer one-on-one sessions to provide personalised advice</p></li>-</ul>-</li>-<li><p><strong>Relax and simplify insurance requirements</strong><br>Reform government regulations to <strong>ease insurance and liability barriers</strong> for businesses that host young people. In some cases, government-backed insurance schemes could support access to placements, especially for SMEs.</p></li>-<li><p><strong>Use data and networks to align opportunities</strong><br>Leverage data platforms to <strong>match young people with local work opportunities</strong>. Enable engagement with <strong>external career consultants, mentors, and employers</strong>, especially in regions where school-based advice is insufficient.</p></li>-</ol><p><strong>Clarifications and insights from forum and play:</strong></p><ul>-<li><p>Effective work experience must be <strong>tailored, inclusive, and skills-focused</strong></p></li>-<li><p>It should expose young people to <strong>multiple career paths</strong>, not just one</p></li>-<li><p>Needs to begin early and be <strong>part of a broader strategy of preparation</strong></p></li>-<li><p>Career advice should be <strong>accessible and consistent across schools</strong></p></li>-<li><p>Local implementation requires support from <strong>central government funding and policy</strong></p></li>-</ul><p><strong>Amendments suggested by forum participants:</strong></p><ul>-<li><p>Focus on <strong>transferable skills</strong> across sectors</p></li>-<li><p>Address <strong>inequities</strong> in access and support through targeted policy</p></li>-<li><p>Ensure local governments have the <strong>resources</strong> to implement improvements</p></li>-<li><p>Create a structure that <strong>brings all key players into the room</strong> — employers, advisors, youth workers, and learners themselves</p></li>-</ul><p><strong>Expected benefits:</strong></p><ul>-<li><p>Improved quality and equity in work experiences</p></li>-<li><p>Career support that reflects real economic and social conditions</p></li>-<li><p>Stronger employer engagement in youth development</p></li>-<li><p>Better preparation of students for life and work</p></li>-<li><p>Reduced stress, mismatches, and disillusionment</p></li>- +<p><strong>What is the issue?</strong><br>Young people face a career support system that’s inconsistent, outdated, and fails to prepare them for the realities of the labour market. Career advisors are under-resourced, many placements are shallow or tokenistic, and young people lack the networks, confidence, and tools to navigate options. Employers willing to help are held back by regulation, costs, and a lack of structured coordination. The result: a landscape where opportunity is unfairly distributed and far too dependent on chance.</p><p><strong>What is being proposed?</strong></p><ol>
- +<li><p><strong>Incentivise better-quality work experience</strong><br>Offer <strong>public support to employers</strong>, including tax incentives, recognition schemes, or microgrants, in exchange for hosting <strong>meaningful, rights-based, and skills-building placements</strong> — especially for students facing structural disadvantage.</p></li>
- +<li>
- +<p><strong>Update the national career support framework</strong></p>
- +<ul>
- +<li><p>Provide <strong>modernised training</strong> for advisors (incorporating AI/CV tools, inclusive counselling, and real labour trends)</p></li>
- +<li><p>Ensure <strong>longer and more frequent one-on-one sessions</strong> for personalised guidance</p></li>
- +<li><p>Build a <strong>national framework</strong> with <strong>flexibility for regional adaptation</strong> to reflect local employment ecosystems</p></li>
- +</ul>
- +</li>
- +<li><p><strong>Simplify access through insurance reform</strong><br>Governments should <strong>relax, simplify, or subsidise insurance processes</strong> that currently block small and medium employers from hosting students safely. National-level schemes could de-risk youth placements.</p></li>
- +<li><p><strong>Enable meaningful partnerships and engagement</strong><br>Promote <strong>regional hubs or alliances</strong> of employers, schools, and youth groups to co-design placements and career education that respond to real needs. Include <strong>youth voices</strong> in the process.</p></li>
- +<li>
- +<p><strong>Harness data and digital platforms</strong><br>Develop or strengthen platforms where:</p>
- +<ul>
- +<li><p>Young people can <strong>search for placements</strong>, get <strong>certificates</strong>, and <strong>track progress</strong></p></li>
- +<li><p>Employers can <strong>standardise offers</strong></p></li>
- +<li><p>Public actors can <strong>coordinate and monitor reach and quality</strong></p></li>
- +</ul>
- +</li>
- +</ol><hr><h3>✏️ Clarifications & Amendments (from the forum):</h3><ul>
- +<li><p>✅ <strong>Transferable skills</strong> and <strong>workplace literacy</strong> (e.g., jargon, norms, expectations) must be a core goal of placements. That’s how young people can benefit even if they change sectors later.</p></li>
- +<li><p><strong>Can local governments afford this?</strong> Not alone — funding should be national but <strong>strategically decentralised</strong>, ensuring <strong>core budgets reach local actors</strong> to implement effectively.</p></li>
- +<li><p><strong>Nationally-set framework, regionally adapted</strong>: A dual-level structure is key. National bodies should define standards, but <strong>local networks</strong> must adapt them to realities on the ground.</p></li>
- +<li><p><strong>Standardisation</strong> through <strong>clear guidance</strong>: Create a common language and set of criteria for placements (rights, outcomes, mentorship, etc.), backed by <strong>employer toolkits</strong>.</p></li>
- +<li><p>🧑🏽🤝🧑🏻 <strong>Who brings people together?</strong> A publicly funded <strong>coordinating entity or regional hub</strong> should be tasked with convening employers, educators, and youth — co-design is essential.</p></li>
- +<li><p>💻 <strong>Digital platforms</strong> should be <strong>engaging, certifying, and accessible</strong> — like a LinkedIn for youth experience. They can reduce barriers and allow cross-sector collaboration.</p></li>
- +<li><p><strong>Equitable distribution of funds</strong>: Spread resources <strong>across education, youth services, and small business support</strong>, ensuring long-term use and <strong>inter-institutional collaboration</strong>.</p></li>
- +</ul><p><strong>Expected outcomes:</strong></p><ul>
- +<li><p>Improved equity in access to job-related learning</p></li>
- +<li><p>Higher quality of placements and advice</p></li>
- +<li><p>Empowered young people with better tools and knowledge</p></li>
- +<li><p>Reduced employer barriers and stronger community links</p></li>
- +<li><p>A more just and future-oriented pathway to employment</p></li>
- </ul>
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