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New research from the Skills Commission released ahead of the publication of its information, advice and guidance inquiry has revealed the vital need for good lifelong careers advice in Britain.
The study showed that a fifth (21 per cent) do not feel they are in a
job that makes best use of their skills and a further 41 per cent have
been in such a job in the past.
Such
is the impact of this wasted talent that each of these people spends on
average 4 years and 10 months in a job which doesn’t make the best use
of their skills. Combined this means a total of 132m working years in
Britain have been spent by people in the wrong job.
And while
just four per cent who escaped such a job used formal careers advice
services to move on to their next position, almost two-thirds (59 per
cent) of those currently in such a dissatisfying job feel good-quality
careers advice could improve their lives. Among the general working
population 47 per cent feel that receiving good careers advice now
would help their career prospects.
Additional research also revealed the levels of engagement and satisfaction with official careers advice provision:
- 65 per cent of all people have received formal careers advice during their life
- 27 per cent of 18-24s have received advice from Connexions, 15 per cent from Jobcentre Plus, 63 per cent from school and 66 per cent from college or university
- 6 per cent of people have received advice from Learndirect, 13 per cent from Jobcentre Plus, 41 per cent from school and 37 per cent from college or university
- Two-thirds (66 per cent) found this formal advice very or fairly useful, with 7 per cent finding it not useful at all.
“These findings demonstrate the very real need for high quality formal careers advice in the UK. We are shocked at the sheer depth of dissatisfaction Britons seem to feel for their work and how their skills are under-utilised on a massive scale.
“We urge the government to listen very carefully to the recommendations of the Skills Commission. Information, advice and guidance for all adults and young people must be given the appropriate funding and political support it deserves.”
The role of informal advice and guidance to 67 per cent of the population was also highlighted by the research:
- 41 per cent sought informal advice from friends (76 per cent of 18-24 year olds)
- 37 per cent from the internet (61 per cent of 18-24s)
- 32 per cent from their parents (70 per cent of 18-24s)
- 25 per cent from other family members (47 per cent of 18-24s)
“In the new world order, informal sources of advice from social networking sites, mentors and employers will become increasingly important. These results highlight how essential a mix of formal and informal sources of advice are to the public.”
The Skills Commission’s inquiry into careers advice has been sponsored by Edge
Find out more about the Skills Commission
Report of Edge's research findings on BBC online
