Worrying trend in our young people

THE SCOTTISH Parliament’s Finance Committee will today host a summit of politicians and business leaders hoping to find ways to ensure young Scots are fully prepared when it comes time to enter the workplace.

Youth unemployment has been an issue of growing concern for some time. There are now more than 5,000 18 to 24-year-olds who have been out of work for more than 12 months while tens of thousands more are on the dole queue.

Two recessions have obviously played their part in the unemployment crisis now afflicting the country but the task of finding jobs for these young people may be even more difficult than originally imagined.

A report submitted to the Finance Committee by the training arm of motor group Arnold Clark claimed that four out of five young people in Scotland who applied for apprenticeships with the company were incapable of work.

Remarkably, the problem is not a lack of skills or intelligence but one of unreal expectations. The company claims that many were unprepared for the rigours of a full working week, used as they were to the 18-hour weeks they enjoyed at school or college.

This report is from just one company but has won the backing of several business organisations.

Anyone leaving school, college or even university is unlikely to be fully prepared for the transition into work: employers must know this will involve a period of training and adjustment.

But if young people genuinely believe a normal working week is excessive then something, somewhere has gone badly awry.

If that attitude is widespread then it is hard to see how youth unemployment will be solved, even with an upturn in economic fortunes.