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.

The DYW network are delighted to be welcoming the new year with our new Virtual Careers campaign 'New Year First Career'!

About

We had initially planned to launch virtual careers events on the week beginning 25th January. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we have decided to delay the launch of these until pupils are back in school and can receive the full benefits of the events. With that in mind, we're making the accompanying resources available for educators on Monday, 25th January to support them during the lockdown period. These resources are focused around 'Tasty Careers', 'Healthy Careers' and 'Energising Careers'.

Once the resource packs are made available on the 25th, recipients will be able to access a series of career inspiration films which will be hosted on the DYW Scot website. These films will be complementary to the resources and toolkits and would serve as the basis of school activity, with local content such as class projects and live Q&A sessions being added in, for example.

What are the aims for the New Year First Career campaign?

• To raise awareness of the diversity of careers in the food & drink, healthcare and energy sectors as well as how to access them
• To enable young people to think about their subject choices in relation to pathways and make informed decisions
• To support educators and parents to understand how to support their young people on their journeys

Get Involved

Schools who wish to deliver the resources during w/c 25th January are encouraged to post content on social media using the hashtag #DYWVirtual and tagging their local regional group (@DYWWEST) and DYW Scot (@DYWScot).

For more information, don't hesitate to get in touch with us! You can contact our Digital Marketing & Events Executive, Fraser, at fraser.woods@dywwest.co.uk.

Over the course of this week, keep an eye on our socials as we've got some excellent content in store for #STEMWest2020 from the West Region's most amazing employers!

Here's who you can expect to hear from:

• Advanced Forming Research Centre
• Babcock
• Diodes
• Institute of Civil Engineers
• Doosan
• Kier Group
• Lantra
• National Manufacturing Institute Scotland
• Scottish Leather Group
• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Aggreko
• Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park
• J.P. Morgan
• Royal Bank of Scotland

Tune in Monday-Thursday this week to hear more about apprenticeships, careers, routes into employment, skills, qualities & qualifications as well as some hands-on activities and experiments and much more!

If you want to get involved on social media, just use the hashtag #STEMWest2020 and tag us!

DYW West Socials

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DYWWestRegion/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dyw_west/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DYWWEST

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dywwest

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI49Ixlg_V63JDp9nRD8-Mg

DYW West Newsletter

The first organisations to back the £60 million Young Person’s Guarantee have been announced by Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop. 

In a collective effort to help young people, the Scottish Government has been joined by SSE, Capgemini, NHS Lothian, Scottish Water and Standard Life Aberdeen in the commitment to ensure everyone aged between 16 and 24 has the opportunity of work, education or training.

The Guarantee aims to give all young people in Scotland the chance to succeed despite the economic impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19)

Organisations backing the Guarantee make five pledges to help young people at this critical time:

• prepare young people for the world of work through work experience, volunteering and work-based learning opportunities
• engage with and provide opportunities to young people who face barriers to work
• create work-based learning, training and upskilling opportunities for young people
• create jobs and opportunities for young people through apprenticeships, paid internships and work experience
• create an inclusive workplace to support learning and enable young people to meet their potential

Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:

“The pandemic is having a disproportionate economic effect on our young people, reducing job opportunities just as they are starting out on their careers. I am delighted to be launching the Young Person’s Guarantee today to help ensure their prospects are not permanently damaged

“I want to thank the early trailblazers who have backed our ambitious initiative and recognise the importance of supporting our young people.

“The leadership of employers from across Scotland and from all sectors will be key in providing the opportunities that will make this Guarantee a success.  This employer leadership will build on our strong track record of tackling youth unemployment through our industry-led Youth Employment Strategy – Developing the Young Workforce.   

“We are encouraging employers to come forward and join what is a crucial intervention to ensure that we capture the potential of our young people and prevent coronavirus (COVID-19) leaving a lasting impact on the employment opportunities of our future workforce.

“I want Scotland’s young people to know we are right behind you, we want you to be successful and we will do everything we can to give you the opportunities you need.”

Sandy Begbie, who led the Edinburgh Guarantee said:  “In the spring, I was delighted to be asked to develop a strategy to establish a Young Person Guarantee for all 16 to 24-year-olds in Scotland.  The ambition is clear, I want every one person who is unemployed to be given an opportunity for a job, apprenticeship, education, training or volunteering.  I strongly believe we must act now and decisively, our young people are an asset and a credit to Scotland.”

Background:

Further information on the Young Person’s Guarantee is available on the www.youngpersonsguarantee.scot website.

The Young Person’s Guarantee was one of the main recommendations of the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery.

The £60 million Young Person’s Guarantee is part of a total of £100 million for employment support and training announced by the Scottish Government to tackle employment challenges. £10 million of this will be used to support a range of measures to recruit and retain apprentices.

Further temporary measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 came into effect from Friday, 9^th October and eligible businesses can now apply for grants from the Coronavirus Restrictions Fund via their local authority.

The Scottish Government have set aside up to £40 million to support employees and businesses impacted by these restrictions as part of their commitment to sustainable and inclusive growth and the Coronavirus (COVID-19): fair work statement.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the business closure fund you must be a hospitality or other business required by law to close (except for takeaway) under these new restrictions.

To be eligible for the discretionary business hardship fund you must be:

• a hospitality business and some gyms, required by the regulations to operate in a restricted way
• a producer/wholesale business based in Scotland supplying primarily short-life goods or produce to hospitality businesses required by the regulations to close or operate in a restricted way and able to evidence a 25% reduction in turnover during the brake period

If your business operates multiple premises you can apply for grants for each premise, applying only once to the local authority in which your business is headquartered. The maximum any one business can receive will be restricted, regardless of the number of premises: the upper limit for the business closure fund is £15,000; the upper limit for business hardship fund is £10,000.

Your businesses must have been open and trading before 9 October.

You must have a business bank account. This is the account your grant will be paid into if your application is successful.

Your business premises must be registered for Non-Domestic rates. Businesses that pay rates through their landlords rather than directly to a Council are eligible to apply (evidence to be provided through copy of lease agreement). 

Businesses which have breached wider COVID regulations/requirements prior to local restrictions are not eligible to apply. 

Full eligibility details

How to Apply

The Scottish Government are working with local authorities to prepare and finalise all the administrative arrangements required to ensure efficient and effective application, processing, payment and appeal arrangements -  and access to the information and advice you may need.

Applications will close on Tuesday, 3^rd November at 5pm.

Full application details

Relevant local authority websites:

East Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

West Dunbartonshire

Inverclyde

Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) 21 regional groups are launching an equalities focused social media campaign and week of events across Scotland starting on w/c Monday, 16th November 2020. The week-long campaign will be aimed at employers, parents and young people that promotes, illustrates and celebrates diversity and inclusion in the workplace and hopes to demonstrate the range of support available for young job seekers and employers.

Building on last year’s #AJobForEverybody campaign we will be introducing a new feature – #MySkillsMakeMe which aims to showcase transferable skills and value through a diverse workplace.

The week will also see a series of events including a live event: ‘Strengthening Diversity through Inclusion’ with 3 In Consulting and several webisodes from the DWP featuring Disability Confident and the return of ‘Play Your Cards Right!’ with Sue Livermore, (from Dumfries & Galloway College).

We would love for you to get involved and hear from individuals across your organisation who may have faced some form of challenge or barrier through their journey from education to where they are now.

If you and your colleagues would like to participate you can:

• Download and print the #MySkillsMakeMe template below. Complete your sign and then uploaded to your social media using the #AJobForEverybody and #MySkillsMakeMe as well as tagging @DYWWEST throughout the week of 16th November 2020.
• Write a brief case study and send to fraser.woods@dywwest.co.uk to share across the DYW West network. You can simply tweet any resource, stories or links that your organisation may already hold using the relevant hashtags and tagging @DYWWEST.

If you would like any information on how you can get involved, please email fraser.woods@dywwest.co.uk.