One in six employers won't hire young people

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Plus they'd all need their mobile phones surgically removed from their hands first and be weaned off their texting addiction before they'd be even near to being employable :rotfl: .

treliac

So, they don't want to employ young people (too indisciplined); they don't want the over 45's (too past it); they don't want women (too likely to take maternity leave); or the long-term unemployed (too disinterested in working/inexperienced/lacking in qualifications) etc. etc.....

There seems to be a very small window of opportunity for a small minority of people to get a decent job then, or maybe even any job at all !!

Wherever are we heading?

laurel7172

Ummm...employers discriminate in favour of the better-qualified shocker???

Would anyone seriously advocate that working hard at school shouldn't be an advantage?

redcard

In other news, 5/6 employers will hire you if you are under 19, have no work experience, any discernable skills, and can't read or write!

CEO: I don't know what to do. Sales are falling quarter-after-quarter
CIO: I know. Profit is down, cash reserves are dropping, our investments are tanking, we're gonna have to start laying off staff and cutting bonuses.
CTO: We need to do something big to turn this around.
..
..

HR: This CV just came in. His name's Johnny, he's 18, just dropped out of school, no qualifications, never had a job, likes computer games.
ALL: Hire him!

vivatifosi

It's also harder to employ 16/17 year olds due to restrictions on what they can do. See:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/employment/young_people_and_employment.htm

If you are under 18, your employer must do an assessment of possible risks to your health and safety, before they employ you. They must pay particular attention to your age, lack of experience, and other things that could be a risk to your health and safety....

What work can you do
16 – 18 year olds

If you are over school leaving age (see under heading General rules on employment) and under 18, there are special restrictions on doing certain types of work. These are:

• work which you are not physically or mentally capable of doing
• work which brings you into contact with chemical agents, toxic material or radiation
• work which involves a health risk because of extreme cold, heat or vibration.

You are only allowed to do the work above under the following circumstances:

• where it is necessary for your training, and
• where an experienced person is supervising you, and
• where any risk is reduced to the lowest level that is reasonable....

Hours of work and rest breaks 16 – 18 year olds

If you are over school leaving age (see under heading General rules on employment) and under 18, the law says that you must not work more than eight hours a day, or more than 40 hours a week. You must have twelve hours rest between each working day, and two rest days per working week. You are also entitled to a 30-minute rest break when you work for longer than four and a half hours. There are some exceptions to this (see below).
There are special limits on the hours you can work at night. You cannot usually work between 10pm and 6am. If you are contracted to work after 10pm, you must stop work at 11pm and not start again before 7am. There are some exceptions for young people who work in hospitals, agriculture, retail, hotels and catering, bakeries, post/newspaper deliveries, or in connection with cultural, artistic, sporting or advertising activities. You are not allowed to work between midnight and 4am, except in the most exceptional circumstances.
The rules about working at night do not apply when:-

• your employer needs you to work to maintain continuity of service or production, or to respond to a sudden rush in demand; and
• doing the work would not affect your education or training; and
• no adult is available to do the work; and
• you are supervised by an adult (if this is necessary for your protection) and you are allowed a period of rest as compensation.

If you are allowed to work at night, you must first be given a free assessment of your health and ability to do the work. The assessment should be repeated at regular intervals. You must not work more than eight hours in a 24 hour period.

Time off for study or training If you are an employee aged 16 or 17 and have not yet achieved a certain standard of education or training, you are entitled to reasonable time off work for study or training. The time off should be paid at your normal hourly rate.

Working in a bar If you are 16 or 17, the person who holds the licence (licensee) must not employ you in a bar at a time when it is open for the sale or consumption of alcohol, unless the work you do is part of an approved training scheme. If the licensee does employ you in these circumstances, it is the licensee, not you, who will be committing an offence.

Working for the armed forces
If you are under 18, you will usually need permission from both parents to join the armed forces. If your parents are separated or divorced, only the permission of the parent with whom you live is needed.
The armed forces have their own minimum age restrictions that reflect current recruitment needs. Details are available from your local armed forces careers offices.

dawyldthing

We are not all the same. I'm 24, have been to uni for 4 years got my degree and can't find permanent work for the life of me, and many of my friends are the same. I've worked in 17 different jobs in a whole range of fields since being 16 years old, ranging from a few days temping up to 2 years, but a lot were temping positions.

The main problem at the moment is that every job wants you to have done the job before and no-ones willing to give you a chance. I had to defer a year a few years ago due to an exam. At the time it was a nightmare, but now I am glad it happened as it gave me skills ready for other jobs I have done. I applied for a telephonist/receptionist role (which I haven't done before) but they were still willing to interview me, but the main thing that stuck out was when she said 'you've had a lot of temporary jobs', which I had as they mostly fitted around my studies, but basically your damned if you've worked and damned if you haven't.

The exams are very perscriptive and are more rote learning than any other, in the fact that answers are either right or they are not, which are not for everyone. Apparently, I can't remember the year but 2012 seems to ring a bell, the government is making it compulsory for young people to stay in education until they are 18 years old. I would love to know how they are proposing to do this as they are struggling to keep many young people in education at the moment. I think they need to go back to a more skills based curriculum as at the moment it is not ideal for everyone and I know that I used to love Design and Technology as it got me out the norm of learn this, do this, think about this and was a more doing subject rather than learning about subject. Work experience should be extended beyond 2 weeks (I recogn a variety of roles over a whole half term to show young people actually what it is like in the real world, as it is mighty difficult out there from writing CVs to interviews to actually starting a job.

The government needs to wake up and smell the coffee before they deminish another generation onto the scrapheap like they have done with the benefit culture and really remember the realisation that we are an aging population and I know for teaching from one study that 20% of teachers will retire in 10 years (which was 5 years ago) and if its that for teaching it will be very similar in many many other fields

VfM4meplse

Attitude is everything. I wouldn't hesitate to hire a bright 16 or 17 yo if they have a good work ethic...unfortunately they seem few and far between.

treliac

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Attitude is everything. I wouldn't hesitate to hire a bright 16 or 17 yo if they have a good work ethic...unfortunately they seem few and far between.

That's also quite hard to demonstrate if no-one will give you a chance.....

VfM4meplse

dawyldthing wrote: »

We are not all the same. I'm 24, have been to uni for 4 years got my degree and can't find permanent work for the life of me, and many of my friends are the same. I've worked in 17 different jobs in a whole range of fields since being 16 years old, ranging from a few days temping up to 2 years, but a lot were temping positions.

17 jobs in 8 years?! I would be seriously concerned if I saw that on a CV.

That wouldn't be the case if you gave careful thought to a career structure and stuck to it rather than taking anything that makes ends meet. I can appreciate the harsh reality of life but there may well have been opprortunities you overlooked whilst making a living temping.

VfM4meplse

treliac wrote: »

That's also quite hard to demonstrate if no-one will give you a chance.....

A week's trial (work experience) usually tells me all I need to know.