Support for Work Experience

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has called for the government to bring back compulsory work experience for under 16s, saying that 82% of more than 3,000 bosses they polled supported the move. The coalition government scrapped compulsory work experience in England in 2012. BCC director, John Longworth, said scrapping compulsory work experience had been "careless... but it is not too late to correct the mistake". The survey found that 79% of employers agreed with the statement that ‘Work experience is vital for equipping young people with the skills they need’, whilst 55% valued volunteering and 69% said paid part-time work was key. However, 36% of employers admitted that their own firms offered no work experience. Large employers were most likely to offer placements, with 88% of firms with more than 250 employees offering placements. However, in employers with less than 10 employees 59% offered no work placements. 

[ source GTAssociates ]