All publicly-funded education and training should help recession-proof young people by providing them with 'employability skills', according to a report published in February 2009 by the government's skills policy watchdog, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

The report finds that although many schools, colleges and universities are preparing their students well for the workplace, provision is patchy and many employers have to spend time and money on new recruits to give them everyday skills, like answering a telephone correctly, or taking a message, how to write reports in English, rather than text-speak, or what a filing cabinet is for.

After decades of discussions around – and definitions of – employability skills, employers seem to be more worried than ever that many job candidates simply don’t have these skills.

After examining the approaches and experience of over two hundred different learning providers, “The Employability Challenge” focuses on 20 case studies giving concrete examples of how employability skills can be effectively developed. It also identifies six key features which distinguish the most successful programmes.

In this recession, both qualifications and skills will be very important. Whilst qualifications can be essential and may be the only way young people can get some jobs (i.e. medicine, law) they can only ever get the applicant onto the long-list. What convinces an employer that a candidate is the right one isn’t just a piece of paper. It’s their ability to really contribute to the organisation with the right attitude, initiative and behaviour, the report says.

Download the "The Employability Challenge" report