A new survey has revealed that a significant proportion of companies are deterred from offering work placements to students due to time constraints and staffing issues.
Two in five (41 percent) of companies that do not offer these types of opportunities cited that the process takes too long.
The research, carried out by The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), found that a third of senior business leaders who do not offer internships also reported a lack of staff ability to supervise young people (33 per cent), while 34 per cent struggled to identify suitable tasks.
Of the 750 business leaders surveyed in total, just over half (52 per cent) are currently offering work experience. Additionally, more than half (58 percent) indicated that the traditional two-week work experience block is too time-consuming.
This comes after the government's post-16 education and skills white paper promised to offer at least two weeks of work experience for all secondary school students, with the aim of splitting this into at least one week of experience in years seven to nine, and the other in years 10 to 11.
Last week, the Office for National Statistics said the number of young people not in work, education or training (NEET) remained close to one million from July to September, or 946,000.
“Work experience is absolutely critical to ensuring young people have that line of sight to where they need to go,” Skills England deputy chief executive Gemma Marsh said at a CEC event last week.
More than two in three (68 percent) of companies surveyed by the CCA said entry-level candidates are not prepared for the world of work.
Three quarters (75 per cent) of companies also said making it easier to work with schools would make them more likely to offer work experience.
The CEC advocates short, flexible work placements to offset weeks of experience in both years seven to nine and years 10 to 11.
These should prioritize underserved young people and provide targeted support, and start early to allow students to access different industries.
“This is very much a new attempt to break away from two-week block work experiences that for too long were seen as inflexible, impractical and out of reach for many students and employers,” said Baroness Nicky Morgan, former Conservative education secretary and chair of the CEC, speaking at the CCA event on Friday.
The CCA is calling on schools and employers to get on board with its new approach to work experience to help give young people more choice.
Ellis Potter, head of learning and careers at The Priory Federation of Academies Trust, said: “We can only achieve this if more employers get involved.
“When companies open their doors, our students get a clearer idea of what work is really like and leave school even more prepared for their future paths.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “School leaders recognize that high-quality work experience and careers advice are vital to helping young people plan for their future.
“However, simply expecting schools to provide work experience, without considering some of the systemic barriers, including the capacity and acceptance of businesses across the country, could leave the promise of universal work experience out of reach.”
