Young People, Employment and the internet - the bigger picture
On: 5th July 2012
So last week Dan Sutch and I were lucky enough to be invited by the wonderful Giulio Quaggiotto and Denisa Papayova over at the UNDP in Bratislava to give a presentation on technology can support digital inclusion, and particuarly econimic inclusion, for young people. You can see our slides here
Addressing this question first means understanding the changing context of participation in employment. We drew on some research from our recent State of the Art Review on Employment and the Internet to give a sense underlying influences we should be aware of:
- Technology is changing the structure of employment, young people are entering into a world where with factors like globalisation and economic restructuring, they are facing an entirely different market than before.
- There’s a growth in Information Careers and Guidance (ICAG) on the web meaning that young people can engage in the labour market and access previously silo-ed knowledge in ways they never could before.
- Recruitment methods are changing to be more online focussed, even in industries that are not obviously digital – this is both in terms of employees finding and applying for work online, but also employers being able to find out employees online.
- Young people and those with higher level qualifications are most likely to use the internet for job search whereas older people and those with experience of manual occupations are least likely to do so. This means people are potentially at the risk of exclusion.
- The internet opens up the possibility for individuals to take a more ‘active’ role in job search, e.g. networking with individuals online or approaching employers.
- Young people need skills in both using the internet and creating content for the internet to take advantage of these opportunities.
- The internet is a powerful enabler of changing locations of work - meaning geography is less of a barrier now than ever before.
- There are new global markets and possibilities for trade even on the level of cottage industries, things like Taobao in China have created new marketplaces for small and large traders alike.
On top of these themes we also have to be aware of the changing nature of 'community' for young people in today’s world or connectivity and cheap global communication. Many young people are linked to diverse groups and communities, some physical, some digital and some which blend both. To really explore inclusion we need to be redefining what participation means in this increasingly digital context. To what extent does the social sector value or engage with these?
All of these issues influence our new £2 million funding programme ‘Digitial Edge’ which is trying to find new ways to support young people to engage socially and economically with their communities. So if you think you’ve got some ways to make that happen I’d click here to apply and find out more.
Comments
the 'good' vs 'bad' internet job search
In my experience helping recent grads and young people into meaningful employment via The Bridge I see two conflicting ways they use the web to find work.
The 'bad' internet in this context are online job sites. Typically these offer a very low response rate. The standard is around 5 responses for every 100 applications. This encourages graduates to apply for numerous different kinds of work, fostering a lack of focus that when combined with the implicit rejection and frustration can create a downward spiral of where graduates start applying for any job and lose touch with what is unique about and important to them.
The 'good' internet is what only a super-focussed graduate can access. The ability to connect to and engage almost anyone if their focus is on creating value and combined with clarity on what they want and who they need to meet.
Love the work Nominet/Design Council are doing and keen to become involved.
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