AMS and Meet & Engage consider work readiness and time to value – priorities that are now at the forefront of early talent professionals’ minds.
It was always inevitable that there would be medium- and longer-term impacts of the pandemic. Not least on the young people whose formative years in education were spent in and out of lockdown.
There’s already evidence that Gen Z are struggling more than previous generations with their mental health – social media playing a not insignificant role in this – but we’re also hearing from both our future talent AND their employers about a real shortfall in work readiness.
Work readiness and time to value are two priorities that were discussed at ISE’s Student Recruitment Conference.
They are at the forefront of early talent professionals’ minds, not least because hiring managers are finding cohorts of early talent are joining their businesses lacking a number of essential skills to hit the ground running.
There’s no doubt the pandemic-enforced virtual nature of many young peoples’ experiences in the past few years has had a lasting impact; enforced online/virtual learning, a lack of onsite work experience, traditional retail or hospitality based part-time work and even face-to-face socialising has potentially stunted their growth.
How Gen Z feel
Let’s take a look at Gen Z in more detail. There’s no shortage of research on Gen Z – particularly those leaving education post-Covid.
At the recent Open University Elevate Equity conference there were a number of speakers sharing stark data on the subject including the findings of the
Youth Voice Census and the EY Foundation. These included:
• As young people get closer to working age their confidence decreases: those aged 19+ are less likely to feel confident that they have the right skills, relevant work experience, qualifications and network than their younger peers.
• A lack of work experience has, for the past six years, featured as one of young people’s biggest barriers to work.
• Young people don’t feel ready for work: only 23% of young people surveyed last year had ANY self-belief in their own skills (Youth Employment UK)
UCAS shared highlights from their newly released research at the ISE Apprenticeship Conference which showed:
• Confidence building, communication skills, team work, creative thinking and working independently were the top five skills young people said they wanted developing. There were 12 in total.
• 91% of the audience would like help in developing at least one of the 12 stated skills.
• Experience creates confidence and preparedness – 95% of young people said it was important for their future job or career.
Lack of career readiness
According to Intelligent.com’s research in July last year, 40% of business leaders believe that Gen Z graduates are unprepared for today’s workforce.
The survey revealed that 70% of these leaders attribute the cause of this unpreparedness to the lack of communication skills and work ethic.
ISE data also showed declining career readiness.
In addition, 70% of UK hiring managers say Gen Z employees need additional support from their workplace to develop soft skills such as communication and collaboration.
LinkedIn’s 2024 most in-demand skills data found that soft skills make up four of the top five most in-demand skills by UK employers, with communication the most sought-after skill.
Preparing for work
Now, there may feel like an ever-growing gap here but there is good news. Afterall – both Gen Z and their employers are able to articulate the gap – and more importantly – as the UCAS research confirms, Gen Z are keen to become prepared.
Gen Z professionals are keen to learn, and nearly half (47%) say they’re spending more time on learning and development to help get ahead in their careers. They also tend to be able to process information from various sources at a faster pace than previous generations which can prove super-useful getting up to speed.
One mantra we tend to come back to which feels super relevant here is the equation:
Belonging + Familiarity = Confidence + Performance
Using our Coaching platform technology to onboard their graduates, one client reported that 94% of new starters stated the journey had made them feel more confident ahead of day one, another reported that 95% of their interns had stated they felt more prepared for their internship.
Another client reported their pre-join experience meant 100% of early career candidates felt more confident about joining and hiring managers reported that new starters are better prepared for work.
Looking ahead to season 2025 this will be a real differentiator in the market and when it comes to equipping our talent of tomorrow with the information and skills they need to succeed.
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