There is £6.7 billion worth of digital skills sitting among the one million unemployed young people according to a survey by O2.
The mobile phone operator found businesses put digital skills on par with traditional skills such as new business development when asked, ‘Which skills would most help your business grow and develop?’
Over three-quarters (77 per cent) of businesses acknowledge that young people have digital skills in abundance but less than one quarter (24 per cent) are planning to offer a first time job or an ‘on the job’ training role to a young person in the coming months.
Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2 said, “There are more than a million young people out of work. It’s a travesty that while businesses are crying out for digital skills, they are excluding from the workplace the very people who have them.”
A possible option for marketing departments requiring the digital skills held by recent graduates is to offer internships or apprenticeships. Read B2B Marketing’s news analysis feature on whether offering internships can benefit your marketing department.
