Introduction from Sandy Begbie, CEO Scottish Financial Enterprise, Chair of Young Person’s Guarantee Implementation Group, Chair of DYW

We all know that this year has been a year like no other and understand that the impact on young people has been significant.

Research undertaken with young people by Young Scot reveals anxiety that this year’s qualifications and achievements will not be valued as highly by employers in comparison to previous years. My many discussions with industry and employers resoundingly confirms the opposite. Instead my experience is widespread employer admiration for the fortitude and resilience young people have shown throughout all the challenges faced in the past year, and a solid commitment to create opportunities to help shape futures.

Official SQA results are due to be issued on 10 August. This is an opportune moment to communicate through an ‘open letter to young people’ that Scotland’s industry and employers stand in support of them, recognise their qualifications, and congratulate them on their achievements. The content of the open letter is attached and includes a number of signatories who represent a broad range of Scotland’s employers. We couldn’t include everyone, however I know there will be many more who stand ready to endorse it.

I therefore kindly ask for your support now, to get behind our campaign and help re-build youth confidence at this critical time.

An open letter to Scotland’s Young People

While you enjoy the summer and a well-deserved break from your studies we wanted to write to you in our role as Scotland’s business leaders and on behalf of our networks of thousands of Scottish employers. As you receive your official SQA results, we want to reassure you that we recognise and value your qualifications as much as any other year. We congratulate you on everything you’ve overcome and achieved this year, and you have our support, whatever your needs and wherever your ambitions lie.

Over the past 18 months you’ve had to deal with a situation like no other and the flexibility, ingenuity and resilience you’ve shown gives us confidence in you as future employees.

We are committed to helping to create job opportunities for you so that you can have a positive future. We are also committed to ensuring that there are opportunities available for  every young person and that you have help and support to develop further.

Many people in interesting job roles across Scotland may not have taken an obvious or traditional path. Look out for #NoWrongPath which will show you that, whatever your results, there are different routes into jobs. There are lots of industries continuing to grow and new ones emerging which offer exciting opportunities. Employers need young people with fresh ideas and experience to get involved and work together with us to tackle big challenges, such as climate change. We will do all that we can to help you find ways to use your skills and talents in the workplace.

We all support the ambition of the Young Person’s Guarantee and its commitment that within two years, every young person aged between 16 and 24, will have the opportunity of a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training programme or volunteering. And we’ll keep speaking to young people across Scotland to understand how we can keep delivering on our commitment to you.

Wishing you the very best of luck with your next steps. Scotland’s employers stand ready to support you. This is our #CommitmentToYOUth.

Signed

Sandy Begbie, CEO, Scottish Financial Enterprise

Marc Crothall, CEO, Scottish Tourism Alliance

Louise Macdonald, National Director Scotland, Institute of Directors

Damien Yeates, CEO, Skills Development Scotland

James Withers, CEO, Scotland Food and Drink

Dr Liz Barron-Majerik, Director, LANTRA

Lee Ann Panglea, Head of CIPD Scotland and Northern Ireland, CIPD

Tracy Black, Director Scotland, CBI

Anna Fowlie, CEO, SCVO

Fiona Hodgson, CEO, SNIPEF Training Services

David Lonsdale, Director, Scottish Retail Consortium

Karen Betts, CEO, Scotch Whisky Association

Martin Crewe, Director, Barnardo’s

Susan Love, Head of External Affairs, The Federation of Small Businesses

Liz Cameron, CEO, Scottish Chambers of Commerce

Sara Thiam, CEO, Scottish Council for Development and Industry

Paul Carberry, Director for Scotland, Action for Children

Iain MacRitchie, Founder and Chair, MCR Pathways

Anne Wexelstein, Director for Scotland, Career Ready

Kate Still, Director Scotland, The Prince’s Trust

Kirsten Urquhart, CEO, Young Scot

DYW created a 4 week Summer Leaver’s Programme, “DYW Skills Academy”, aimed at supporting young people leaving school in the summer and are looking for support in preparing them for their next steps in life.  The programme will start on Monday 12^th July 2021.

The programme consists of a series of activities and virtual experiences to support young people to build capacity to enter the labour market.

What’s included?

We are offering CV checks and virtual mock interviews, to help you on your journey to your new career, as well as e-learning modules.

E-Learning

Young people will have the opportunity to access a series of e-learning modules.

There are five modules, each taking between 20 and 45 minutes on average to complete.

These modules cover:

• Life at Work
• Basic Health and Safety
• Customer Service
• Cyber Security
• GDPR

The participating young people will automatically receive a certificate of achievement after completing each module.

CV Check

We are happy to have an industry professional look over a draft of your CV to provide advice and feedback to enhance your CV.

Mock Interview

If you’re nervous for an upcoming interview or need advice then we are happy to set up a virtual mock interview. We can provide coaching and guidance on interview preparation and how to conduct yourself during the interview process.

If you would like any of the support mentioned then please email us at info@dywwest.co.uk

Developing the Young Workforce are looking to shape up our 2021 employer led ‘Scotland’s Biggest Parents Events’ and would really appreciate the views of parents, carers and guardians to ensure we deliver information and insight that is helpful and hits the key topics you would like to hear about.  We are asking for 2 minutes of your time through a short survey to help us get this right for you.  The deadline for survey completion is Friday 4^th June.  You can check out last year’s focus HERE and keep an eye on the website for updates for this year’s event. Thank you for your support,  Team DYW.

Survey link >> here

As part of Scotland’s response to COVID-19 economic recovery, Young Person’s Guarantee was launched in November 2020. It aims to give all young people, aged 16-24 in Scotland, the chance to succeed through the opportunity of a job, apprenticeship, education, training or volunteering.

And for employers, it offers help to develop a future pipeline of skills and experience, with young people at the heart of the workforce. Young people bring organisations a wealth of talent, creativity, and enthusiasm, critical now and for future success.

DYW regional groups have been tasked the Scottish Government to get employers of all sizes and across all sectors involved with Young Person’s Guarantee in up to 5 ways: 

• Prepare young people for the world of work
• Create opportunities for young people who face the greatest barriers to work
• Invest in a skilled workforce through apprenticeships, training and upskilling opportunities
• Create jobs and opportunities suitable for 16-24 year olds
• Ensure a work environment which supports all young people and provides fair work

View the guide to the YPG -here

View the YPG proforma, where employers can sign up to the asks -here

To discuss how your organisation can support the YPG please contact us atinfo@dywwest.co.uk

DYW West appoints new Chair

DYW West (Developing the Young Workforce West Region), the Scottish Government funded regional group (covering Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire) hosted by West College Scotland, has recently appointed Jim Hannigan, Head of Skills Capability at NMIS (the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland) as its new Chair. The Board comprises of organisations of all sizes and sectors from across the region representing the private, public and third sectors.

Commenting on his appointment, Jim said “I’m delighted to support DYW West; I know from current and previous roles how important industry engagement with education is. I am joining at a key time as the regional group has been awarded additional funding for DYW Schools Coordinators and plays an integral role in the Young Person’s Guarantee. If not already, I call on all organisations in the region to connect with DYW West and discuss how they can support each other by emailing info@dywwest.co.uk

Lead Official and DYW West Programme Director Bob Davidson said “...it is great to have Jim on board given his current senior role at NMIS, previous SDS experience and progressing from an apprentice to a Director in a well known firm such as Doosan Babcock, it’s a great fit. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank outgoing Chair, Andrew Bowman who served as Chair for 2 years and stepped down to focus on his new business ventures”.

ENDS

About DYW West: DYW West is the Scottish Government funded regional group for the area hosted by West College Scotland. Regional groups across Scotland are tasked with connecting industry with education in order to help develop Scotland’s future workforce www.dyw.scot

About Jim Hannigan: Jim Hannigan - Head of Skills Capability – NMIS (University of Strathclyde) Jim is currently Head of Skills Capability at the Manufacturing Skills Academy within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS). Before this, he was NMIS Skills Programme Manager with Skills Development Scotland (SDS), where he was responsible for leading the development of the initial business proposition for the NMIS Manufacturing Skills Academy. However, the bulk of his career was in heavy engineering, where, joining the company as an apprentice Jim spent over 35 years with Doosan Babcock, where he served as Director of Asset Management, leading the Manufacturing and Engineering consultancy division. He is a professional member of IOM3, as well as serving on the IOM3 Commercial Board and has been a Chartered Engineer since 1994. Jim is also a member of the Board of Management at West College Scotland, where he chairs both the Corporate and Remuneration committees.

Emily our Modern Apprentice has written a blog post: "10 Things I didn't expect (or know) before becoming a Modern Apprentice!"

Check it out here: https://madiaries143672851.wordpress.com

Does your organisation employ apprentices? (Foundation, Modern and/or Graduate). Then why not consider entering the Scottish Apprenticeship Challenge!

The company/apprentice(s) identify a project which benefits the local community and the individual apprentices or teams of apprentices (up to 8 apprentices in a team) can participate, depending upon the project being undertaken. A maximum of 40 hours should be spent on this project over a three month period.

Organisations need to register with us by 31^st May and have completed the project by the end of September (with a report). We will have a regional event in October to choose our regional winner who will go forward to the national competition. For more info read here / registration document link is here

As 2018 is the Year of Young People the younger team members of DYW West and DYW Glasgow have teamed up to tackle the objective of the Year of Young People 2018 - to provide a platform for young people to have their views about education heard and acted upon. To achieve this, we have developed a Web App that allows young people to share their thoughts on education in Scotland.

If you are 26 or under, through this platform you are invited to contribute to a bank of thoughts around education in Scotland - by completing the sentence ‘Education should be…’ by visiting www.educationshouldbe.scot

We’d like to encourage everyone to spread the word and get behind #educationshouldbe. Join the conversation on social media and find out more at @DYWWEST and @DYWGlasgow.