The CBI Director-General, Richard Lambert, said today that it is even more important during the recession that students gain vital employability skills and experience of the workplace while at university, so they are better equipped to compete in the increasingly tough jobs market after graduation.
Launching a new CBI/Universities UK report, ‘Future Fit: Preparing graduates for the world of work’, Mr Lambert highlighted the importance employers place on ‘employability’ skills – such as self-management, team-working, customer awareness and problem solving – when recruiting graduates.
He also encouraged more employers to offer work placements and internships to undergraduates, stressing they bring benefits to both the student and to businesses.
Richard Lambert said: “To say that the class of 2009 won’t have it easy after graduation is an understatement – competition for jobs will be the most intense for many years.
“Of course businesses don’t expect graduates to arrive on day one fully trained, but what they do value in graduates are their people skills, a focus on the customer and a keenness to solve problems. It’s no good graduates regretting not taking up opportunities once they leave university – many universities are keen to help them gain work experience during their degree.
“Universities and business must do more to meet the pent up demand that exists among students for doing work placements and internships during a degree, and developing the skills they know will be vital in getting a good job after graduation. There’s no substitute for experience gained directly on the job and offering placements can be a cost effective route to recruitment.”
The report, sponsored by DIUS, contains case study examples of how employers and universities are already working successfully together to offer students work placements during their degrees, embed employability into courses and provide on-campus opportunities to meet employers. These include:
- Centrica – has an award-winning undergraduate work experience scheme, putting students on real business projects, building links with universities and allowing the company to tap into a greater pool of talent.
- Liverpool John Moores University – builds employability and work-related learning into every curriculum and, through its WoW (World of Work) programme, students can access more advanced, work-based skills.
- Yellowfin Limited – a small marine engineering company which offers summer placements to entrepreneurial undergraduates and has developed broader links with local universities, giving lectures and running innovation competitions to encourage students to start their own businesses.
Speaking at the report launch event, Professor Rick Trainor, President of Universities UK, said: “There is no doubt that, in many sectors, this year’s graduates will be facing stiff competition for jobs due to the recession. This report nevertheless tells a positive story, demonstrating how highly employers value UK graduates, and the extent to which they see working with students as having a recognisable business benefit.
“The report also shows how universities – in collaboration with employers – are changing the way courses are taught, building employability skills into the curriculum, and offering placements and career-related approaches to give their graduates the edge.
“Skills and attributes that will help graduates get jobs and manage their careers over a lifetime are being developed as part of the broader higher education experience. This is now more important than ever, as universities – and their graduates – will be key to the UK’s growth path out of recession.”
Commenting on the report, David Lammy, Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property, said: "Graduates need to be equipped with the right skills to succeed in the workplace, and today's labour market is bringing home to students the need to take personal responsibility for developing the skills they need.
"'Future Fit' highlights the vital role both employers and higher education institutions have to play in this and in giving students the best possible opportunities to build on their skills."
Figures from the latest CBI education and skills survey1, to be published in full next month but trailed in today’s report, reveal that over three-quarters (78%) of employers consider employability skills as being essential when recruiting graduates. The majority of businesses are either ‘satisfied or very satisfied’ with the employability skills of graduates, so employers want universities to continue to prioritise improving these skills among undergraduates.
Most firms (70%) do not specify degree subject for their graduate jobs and most (84%) do not consider the university attended as being a key influence.
A recent survey of young people carried out by YouGov2 for the CBI, shows that half of the graduates surveyed would have liked to have done a placement lasting more than one month during their degree and two-fifths (41%) of graduates would have liked to have done a sandwich year. This shows there is unmet demand from students, who may only realise the benefits in hindsight once they have graduated.
The survey also showed that just half (49%) of school and college students thought work experience was an important factor considered by graduate employers – compared to over two thirds (69%) of current undergraduates and three quarters (75%) of recent graduates. It is vital that prospective university students are made more aware of the benefits and value of work experience and employability skills at an earlier stage so that they can make better use of their time in higher education.
The following recommendations made in today’s report will be considered by the CBI’s Higher Education Task Force, which publishes its report in June:
- More universities should provide a dedicated resource focusing on the development of employability skills as part of degree courses, and use it to build long-term relationships with employers.
- More employers should offer work experience opportunities to students.
- Students should address employability issues from day one of their course, taking up the opportunities that are offered and regarding the acquisition of employability skills as a key part of their university experience, not an optional extra.
Notes
- The CBI/UUK report, 'Future fit - Preparing graduates for the world of work', is available to download by clicking here
- CBI/Nord Anglia Education & Skills Survey, to be published in full on 6 April 2009
- YouGov survey conducted on behalf of the CBI, between 9 and 16 February 2009, among 557 sixteen to eighteen year olds, 505 undergraduates and 527 graduates aged up to 28.
- About the CBI
The CBI is the UK's leading business organisation, speaking for some 240,000 businesses that together employ around a third of the private sector workforce. With offices across the UK as well as in Brussels, Washington and Beijing, the CBI coordinates British business representation around the world.
- About Universities UK
Universities UK is the major representative body and membership organisation for the higher education sector. It represents the UK's universities and some higher education colleges. Its 133 members www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/members/ are the executive heads of these institutions. Universities UK works closely with policy makers and key education stakeholders to advance the interests of universities and to spread good practice throughout the higher education sector. Founded in 1918 and formerly known as the Committee for Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP), Universities UK celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2008.
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