Labour MP Alex Cunningham has taken a pro-active approach to tackling the growing problem of youth unemployment in his Stockton North constituency.
Working with the British Chambers of Commerce as part of the “Business is Good for Young People” campaign, Alex is attempting to address the continuing challenges posed by youth unemployment and underemployment.
In an effort to address these dual problems, Alex has contacted many local employers to identify the barriers that exist in employing young people, and to learn which skills young people require to increase an employer’s confidence in employing them.
Using the feedback he receives, Alex will seek to work with local schools and colleges to promote these skills and to ensure that educational establishments across the Borough can equip Stockton’s young people with the skills that employers are looking for and can increase future employment prospects.
Alex said:
“The growth in youth employment is deeply worrying. Recent statistics show that long-term youth unemployment has increased by 26% in Stockton North in the past year, and this can have damaging effects for our young people and the communities they grow up in.
“What is equally worrying is that employers report that they are struggling to identify young people with the skills and attitudes required in the workplace. The continued prosperity of business in the UK depends on the skills of our future workforce and neither Britain nor Stockton can afford to lose a generation of possible employees.
“It is therefore important, particularly during these uncertain economic times, that we do all that we can to ready our young people for the workplace by giving them the necessary skills to succeed in a variety of work scenarios. I hope that I am able to contribute to this process by identifying some of these important attributes and urging improved teaching in those areas as necessary.”