With one in five 16 to 24-year-olds currently unemployed in Britain, the CIPD have released a report this week looking at the mismatch between prospective employees and employers expectations – but who is to blame?

The report ‘Employers are from Mars, young people are from Venus’ highlighted the main issues emerging in the recruitment process are a shortage of confidence, and poor levels of preparation, communication and presentation. Specific complaints include
• Not reading or understanding eligibility criteria for the job
• General understanding of expectations such as punctuality and what to wear
• Poor written communication such as emails written in text-speak
• Little knowledge of ‘basic work etiquette’
• Difficulty in saying why they want the job

This is not just impacting the unemployment figures as CIPD chief executive Peter Cheese outlines; ‘When it comes to recruitment it can feel as though young people and employers are on completely different planets. Too many young people are struggling to find their first job, whereas many employers are finding it difficult to get the skills they need. This mis-match needs to be addressed, not only to reduce youth unemployment and the long-term impact it can have on young people, but also to ensure UK businesses are equipped with the right talent for the future.’

So with this impending skills shortage, do employers have a shortsighted view and should they be considering altering their expectations? This week I have met with two Graduate Managers for prestigious international brands who described how their roles not only focus on university students but have recently evolved to incorporate a higher emphasis on attracting school leavers and internships.  This has meant they have had to look at the way they send messages to the market (i.e using texts and utilising social networking), the places they advertise their roles, and the re-inventing the interview process to attract talent from different pools.  Even though standards have historically been set, are they still applicable if attracting candidates in different ways, and how far can companies comprise? 

If it is evident someone has potential, does it matter that they only have a basic understanding of work etiquette which can be quickly learnt? If someone does not wear the right clothes can they be educated what is right? Are skills like using text-speak going to hinder businesses or add value longer term?  Surely with the impending skills shortages in the UK and the changing business focuses we should be encouraging this age group and focusing on them to become our future leaders not knocking their confidence because they have not been given the guidance to make what we consider the right impression. 

Written by Debra Harris who h8’s txt-speak and ppl using J but is considering embracing it!