Businesses find school leavers unready for work

It suggests there are still widespread concerns among small businesses about young people’s literacy and numeracy skills.

The survey, which questioned almost 3,000 companies, also reveals worries about school leavers’ self-management skills as well as their ability to work in teams and communicate.

In total, 81 per cent of the firms questioned by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said they were not confident that school leavers were ready for work.

Over two thirds (69 per cent) rated school leavers’ literacy skills as poor or very poor, while over half (55 per cent) said the same about their numeracy skills.

None of the small businesses polled said they thought literacy and numeracy skills were excellent, while 17 per cent said they thought numeracy levels among this group were good, and 15 per cent said the same for literacy.

The rest were unsure or thought these skills were neither good nor bad.

When it came to workplace skills, more than half (56 per cent) thought that school leavers’ communication skills were poor or very poor, 77 per cent said the same about their business awareness and 31 per cent said the same about team working skills.

The poll also revealed 57 per cent of small businesses thought that school leavers did not have a positive attitude.

It found that seven in 10 (69 per cent) of small businesses believed schools should do more to develop young people’s employability skills, while 66 per cent thought they should do more to improve basic numeracy and literacy.

FSB national chairman John Walker said: “Businesses are more than ready to invest time and money training staff in job-related skills, but expect them to come with at least the basics.

“It is a concern that businesses have again highlighted numeracy, literacy and core workplace skills, such as communication, as major problems. These are the skills with which young people need to be equipped to be successful in today’s tough jobs market.”