Schools need more lessons in work experience

It’s no secret the UK manufacturing sector is facing a worrying skills gap. We can’t afford to wait any longer to take action, not only for the sake of the industry, but also for a generation of young people embarking on their careers.

The UK’s approach to educating, training and advising young people needs to be reconsidered. There is a disconnect between the guidance and experience provided in schools and the “real world” jobs available to young people.

To bridge this gap there are four key areas we need to look at: our provision of careers advice; the way we structure league tables; meaningful work experience; and countering young people’s negative perceptions of manufacturing.

In the food and drink manufacturing sector alone we face an acute need to recruit 170,000 individuals by 2020. In addition, 20pc of UK food and drink businesses are already reporting skills gaps in their existing workforce, particularly in technical roles relating to science and engineering. This makes the burden of finding the right skills even more challenging.

As the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, employing over 400,000 people, securing the right blend of skills is essential for the British food and drink sector to thrive in the competitive global marketplace. However, we face a paradox in which youth unemployment in the UK is at a staggering 21pc, yet the manufacturing industry can’t attract young people to work in our sector.

This week Mondelez International, the maker of Cadbury, Oreo and Bassetts products, will release a report entitled “The future of food manufacturing: Feeding a sustainable skills pipeline” which aims to investigate this paradox. It will look at how careers advice and work experience is managed in Germany, a country often admired for its approach to training young people and low youth unemployment, in search of lessons for the UK.

Youth unemployment in Germany is currently at 8.1pc, a third of the UK level. One contributing reason for this difference may be the level of careers guidance young people receive throughout their schooling. The research shows that 76pc of German students have had advice on options before the equivalent of GCSEs, compared with only 64pc of UK students.

This means that young people in Germany have a head start in identifying and honing their skills for their future careers.

To tackle this problem, I believe careers advice should be delivered in partnership with employers from a range of sectors, in particular manufacturing where there is a need to radically change how young people view the industry.

To make this happen, businesses must proactively forge links with their local schools, while those schools should actively seek out opportunities with local businesses. These relationships would lead to well-informed students and a pipeline of future talent for businesses.

Schools also need to prioritise careers advice. At Mondelez we offer a variety of entry level options including a school-leaver (post A-level) programme and apprenticeships. A problem we have encountered when hiring for these schemes is that schools are more focused on sending pupils to university (thus benefiting their position in league tables) rather than channelling students into the most appropriate careers route.

In 2013, we visited more than 50 schools to highlight the exciting and varied career opportunities in food and drink manufacturing, but it was clear some schools were more open to this than others.

As a country, we need more focus on employment outcomes and not just university places. By amending school league tables to showcase the employment results of education and not just exam success, schools could focus on providing appropriate careers advice. This will encourage the right route for each student, ensuring their skills are tailored for their chosen pathway.

But it’s not just about discussing career options in the academic atmosphere of the classroom. It is vital that young people have a taste of the world of work to equip them with the necessary experience to make an informed decision about their future career.

Our report found that only 59pc of students in the UK had the opportunity to take part in work experience, compared with 87pc of German students. A figure that should be a real wake-up call for our industry in particular is that 62pc of German students have had the opportunity to visit a manufacturing site, compared with only 22pc of UK students.

It’s no wonder young people have an outdated view of our industry given they have never witnessed modern manufacturing up close.

Work experience should not be an additional extra. Everyone should be given the opportunity to complete work experience in a business or manufacturing environment by the age of 18. This is no easy task, and we know that businesses need to play their part in increasing the work experience and internship opportunities available. In fact, we believe that a work experience requirement in the curriculum would help deliver this objective.

We’ve seen first-hand the impact that business involvement can have. Mondelez International’s Taste of Work programme, funded by the Cadbury Foundation, invites local schools to our manufacturing sites across the UK to experience what a manufacturing career could look like.

In 2013, approximately 10,000 young people were reached through Taste of Work. As a result of our work in Sheffield, there has been a 30pc increase in students looking to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths subjects as a route into manufacturing.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we need to change perceptions. Apprenticeships and alternatives to university should be placed on an equal footing to academic routes, and outdated views of manufacturing must be challenged. Change has to come from the top – from government, businesses and media. Only then will it feed into the psyche of young people.

The current focus of the education sector on results, qualifications and academia must change, not only to ensure the success of the food and drink industry, but to create a sustainable skills pipeline for all UK businesses. We need to draw attention to the tangible outcomes of education for young people, and look at how we can enable young people to make the right choices for themselves.

Schools cannot do this alone. Businesses must work with them to deliver a holistic education that caters not only for academic success, but also for their journey into the world of work.