Minister for employment backs new charter for work experience

The charter highlights the enormous benefits to young people, employers and society of good work experience, and coinciding with the announcement that new funding is available from today to employers as part of the Government’s Youth Contract, the Minister called for more employers to get involved in offering work experience.

The charter, part of more detailed guidance for employers on how to deliver quality work experience placements for young people, reflects the high standards that hundreds of employers who offer work experience already adhere to and is designed to encourage more employers to help young people break the vicious cycle of no experience, no job. The guide also includes examples of employers offering work experience.

Employers who follow the guide and commit to the charter will be delivering ten key principles, including tailoring placements to individual needs, ensuring they give young people a solid introduction to working life, and communicating with young people about the role they will play in the organisation, what is expected of them and what they can expect in return in terms of support, supervision and mentoring.

Chris Grayling, Minister for Employment, said “This CIPD guide highlights the immense contribution employers are making to young people and society by offering high quality work experience. Offering young people work experience is a moral and economic imperative both for Government and for employers.

Katerina Rüdiger, skills policy adviser at CIPD, said: “Work experience works – for young people, business and society. The firms we’ve worked with in producing this guidance, and many more besides, are delivering high-quality work experience that brings real, long-term benefits for young people and society as a whole – benefits which should be celebrated, championed and used as a powerful call for more organisations to offer more work experience.

“Work experience helps young people make the transition from education to working life by informing their career choices and helping them to find the confidence to present their existing skills and capabilities in a way that fits with what employers are actually looking for.

“Employers are genuinely concerned to achieve the best possible outcome for the young person, and see it as their duty to help improve access to the labour market, but they also recognise the benefits for themselves, in terms of developing a talent pipeline for their business. We hope that by showcasing some of the schemes already in place, we can build awareness of the enormous benefits being delivered by employers who are putting time and effort into delivering high-quality work experience, and encourage many more to follow suit.”