When we first thought of TheEmployable, we were in the midst of redundancy from our jobs in (ironically) recruitment.

At the time, like most people, who probably go through redundancy (that isn’t voluntary) there are certain parts of the process that you wish were handled more smoothly and with a slightly more personable approach. One of our first posts as TheEmployable was an article that we wrote about the duty of care your employer should give in the recruitment of staff and the subsequent loss of staff, if the worst should happen.

If business has a  ‘Green’ policy and carries this in such esteem; if they have a policy on spending thousands on outsourced recruitment and HR;  if they take all of their ‘high flying, money-making Executives on weekend trips away….is it not about time that they had a social responsibility scheme to cover the care they give to those that apply for work and those that are unfortunately lost from their organisation due to cut backs and money-saving exercises?

This leads us nicely onto the Youth Employment UK campaign – a campaign in essence that is asking employers to have a duty of care to the  (many) young  applicants and job seekers who are looking for work and may well come knocking for employment opportunities.

The campaign aims to increase the skills and work opportunities for young people throughout the UK. It will do this by encouraging UK businesses to back young people leaving education by asking them to sign up to the Positive Youth Charter.

We spoke to Laura Jane, a representative of Youth Employment UK last week and she explained that the campaign will help to “provide a resource of information for young people so that they can access local employers and service providers who can help them into work. This service is completely unique as there is currently no joined up approach to the growing numbers of NEET in the UK. Business members receive support and guidance helping them to make the most of the opportunities to engage with their future talent pool, achieve corporate social responsibility objectives and support the UK economy as part of their membership and can use the Youth Employment UK logo and Positive Youth Charter with their marketing strategy.”

Membership to Youth Employment UK is relatively cheap (certainly for big business) and covers the administration of the scheme. By agreeing to the Positive Youth Charter, a business simply is agreeing to have a positive approach and policy regarding the recruitment of young people and the NEET generation, the support of mentoring and career advice schemes to young people in their local area and the overall promotion of Youth Employment UK.

So “Business” – Do you have a corporate social responsibility to combating Youth Unemployment? If not – why not? Take the time to find out more about this campaign and what it entails via the link below…

You can find out all about membership and download the supporters badge at www.yeuk.org.uk.

Also if you wish to support the scheme and you are not (at the moment) a business representative, you can get involved by;
•    Downloading the free supporters badge from the Youth Employment UK website and champion the campaign where possible
•    Encourage businesses, charities and public sector organisations to become members of Youth Employment UK
•    Join their LinkedIn group, Facebook and Twitter feeds
•    Get involved and stay involved we need our supporters to have a voice

We at TheEmployable think that this is a more than worthy campaign and wish Laura Jane and the Youth Employment UK team all the best. We at TheEmployable will carry the supporter’s badge on our website, and encourage you to do the same!