Recruitment

With a continuing high level of unemployment among graduates, Poppy Ring asks: are universities adequately equipping students with the transferable skills required for the workplace?

Because training workers to plug the UK skills gap is a lengthy task, the abrupt introduction of a “radical” immigration cap would generate major skills problems for employers and lead to more offshoring.

Just over two thirds of employers would be more inclined to hire good-looking candidates, with a scary 9% admitting that they had in the past recruited someone purely because of their appearance.

Despite high levels of domestic unemployment, organisations are turning to both migrant workers and offshore outsourcers in a bid to plug UK skills gaps as the economy starts to recover.

On A level results day it transpires that apprenticeships are widely considered second best to a university education and as something for “other people’s children”.

BT receiving more than 100 applications for each of its apprenticeship places means the telecoms provider is now considering whether to expand the scheme.

While workers’ use of social media is costing UK business £14 billion a year in lost productivity, nearly two thirds of graduate recruiters are wary of using the channel because of fears over damage to reputation.

Unemployment is disproportionately hitting young people and older workers but official jobless figures appear to indicate that the situation is only set to get worse.

Although employers are becoming increasingly reluctant to hire young people, those that do generally find them well equipped for working life – despite the bad press that this demographic receives.

Age UK says the coalition government should do more to tackle age discrimination if it is to push through proposed benefit reforms.