Gatsby Benchmarks
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3 4 5 6
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Understanding the
employer mindset
Recognising why businesses work with schools will help careers leaders to forge
positive relationships, writes ISE chief research officer Tristram Hooley.
ncounters with employers (the
goal of Gatsby Benchmark 5) have
been shown to boost students’
chances of finding employment
and the salaries they receive. Such benefits
create a strong rationale for schools to reach
out to employers.
However, much less has been said about
the advantages employers gain from working
with schools. It is useful for careers leaders to
unders tand and ar ticulate the se in
order to encourage businesses to work
with them and so forge mutually favourable
relationships.
E
Recruiting talented people
and building a pipeline
It will come as little surprise to teachers that
businesses are keen to future-proof their
talent pipelines and are aware that there are
worrying skills shortages.
UK STEM businesses, in particular, continue
to highlight science-skills shortages. In
January, the Association of the British
Pharmaceutical Industry warned that skills
gaps must be addressed for the UK to
m a i nt a i n i t s wo r l d - l e a d i n g p o s i t i o n
for medicines and vaccines research
and development.
According to the Department for
Education’s Employer Skills Survey 2017,
the overall number of skills shortage
vacancies has grown from 91,000
in 2011 to 226,000 in 2017. Some
of the highes t densi ties of
skills-shortage vacancies can be
found in construction, utilities,
transport , manufacturing and
information/communication.
Two key types of skills were
identified as lacking: technical
and practical skills (specific
skills required to perform the
22 // EMPLOYABILITY