From Outreach to Intake- Employer Standards for Careers Education

The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) has today launched its new publication, ‘From Outreach to Intake- Employer Standards for Careers Education’.

The report and press release are available on CEC’s website.

The report draws together insights from more than 340 businesses who have participated in CEC’s Employer Standards framework, a new self-assessment tool designed to help businesses raise the quality of their outreach with education, evaluated against nine evidence-based standards. Participating businesses, who together employ more than 1 million people and include national organisations such as BAE Systems, Tesco, Lloyds Banking Group, KPMG, Coca Cola, Morgan Sindall and Thatcher’s Cider, have reported on the business benefits and impact of education outreach.

Summary of key insights from the report:

• Insight 1: Employer outreach works. It boosts recruitment and improves outcomes for young people. More than four in five (83%) employers say it is helping develop new talent pipelines, with 86% saying it is encouraging young people to take up careers in their sector. 70% say it is helping close skills gaps.
• Insight 2: Some employers and industries are benefitting more. Ongoing and connected programmes are increasing student interest in sectors with shortages. Health and social care, and construction are among those at the forefront of business and education outreach, in response to acute skills shortages and vacancies in those sectors.

Insight 3: The Standards are highlighting common challenges around supporting the interview and application process and the engagement of parents/carers. Helping young people understand and prepare for the full range of application processes shows most scope for improvement, aligning with what students say about where they need support. Employers that engage parents in their careers outreach report additional benefit in their efforts to attract young talent and recruit. These employers are 30% more likely to say their outreach is helping them close skills gaps versus employers that don’t engage parents.