Bleak outlook for the young.

And then there’s AI - wouldn’t want to be an architect or an accountant these days. I don’t think anyone is ‘blaming’ anyone, just feeling sympathy for the young ones who have it pretty tough these days.

fancythat

I never get how saying "things were worse back sometime or other". would console a youngster of today, trying hard to find work.

It’s because some feel our youth of today are facing things that somehow didn’t exist in previous decades.

They do indeed face different changes to those we faced.

However, the title of this thread is “the outlook is bleak”

Some of us may not agree.

What is clear, is that perhaps youngsters of today don’t necessarily have the resilience required to live in a cut-throat world and are, perhaps, not as self-reliant and independent as perhaps they need to be and that lockdown seriously affected the mental health of some.

Challenges not changes.

Aveline

I agree. Part working and summer jobs are great learning experiences for life.
I was wondering about the perceived need for youngsters to 'go travelling'. It sets them back a year in the competition for jobs. When I was young we wanted to get good proper jobs asap and didn't want to miss the employment boat. We're now doing our travelling as pensioners..

Done properly, it provides a year of maturity , new challenges and experience that benefits both the traveller , their university experience, or any employer. I did it and so did our kids. We went abroad and worked.

"Done properly" does not involve a backpack, a bottomless card from the bank of mum and Dad, and a busload of other kids hellbent on sun sea sex and drugs. IMO.

watermeadow

Several posts mention plumbing. I know a boy who wants to train as a plumber but he failed GCSE English and maths so can’t. Those forced to resit are unlikely to pass.
My Oxford graduate friend said, ‘I could probably get a job in AI for an arms manufacturer.’ He has no proper job but still has his principles.

If he gives up at the first spill, he'd never make it as a plumber.

Some people DO pass resit English and Maths GCSE expecially if they approach it in the right frame of mind. There are plenty of examples online of how to start.

Get their marked papers back; assess where the problem lies. Make a plan.

Cossy

fancythat

I never get how saying "things were worse back sometime or other". would console a youngster of today, trying hard to find work.

It’s because some feel our youth of today are facing things that somehow didn’t exist in previous decades.

They do indeed face different changes to those we faced.

However, the title of this thread is “the outlook is bleak”

Some of us may not agree.

What is clear, is that perhaps youngsters of today don’t necessarily have the resilience required to live in a cut-throat world and are, perhaps, not as self-reliant and independent as perhaps they need to be and that lockdown seriously affected the mental health of some.

I cant at all blame the youngsters of today.
[But obviously I know different ones to you].
Not being able to find work when young if you want it, is a big issue and a big deal.
No matter what happened in 1980.

When I was young I did not like people saying "oh it was even worse in so and so time". [I myself walked into the job I wanted, so it was nothing to do with my predicament personally]. I used to think then, "what difference does that make to now"?

I thought, I will wait and see if I think the same way when I myself am older. On the other side of the fence so to speak.

Now I am there, I think it is an even worse thing to think and say.
Maybe that is just me.

Cossy

fancythat

I never get how saying "things were worse back sometime or other". would console a youngster of today, trying hard to find work.

It’s because some feel our youth of today are facing things that somehow didn’t exist in previous decades.

They do indeed face different changes to those we faced.

However, the title of this thread is “the outlook is bleak”

Some of us may not agree.

What is clear, is that perhaps youngsters of today don’t necessarily have the resilience required to live in a cut-throat world and are, perhaps, not as self-reliant and independent as perhaps they need to be and that lockdown seriously affected the mental health of some.

Exactly.

Being isolated at home during lockdown, offered a learning opportunity to acquire vital practical life skills and practise resilience.

How to order groceries online , plan /cook meals, run a home kitchen. launder and iron; garden; walk a dogs, run errands for the housebound Learn to set themselves a daily home timetable for self care, sibling care, domestic chores, study, excercise, yoga, ....

All of those are transferable skills in educatiion and employment.

What an opportunity.

There are always winners and losers. People who make the best of things; people who whine it's so unfair nobody did it for them.

nanna8

And then there’s AI - wouldn’t want to be an architect or an accountant these days. I don’t think anyone is ‘blaming’ anyone, just feeling sympathy for the young ones who have it pretty tough these days.

I was in a London taxi a few weeks ago and the driver was telling me that he was trying to persuade his grandchildren to learn a trade. AI is not going to be any use when the lights fuse and water pours through the ceilings.

For those who say it was as bad in the 80's it certainly was not! Both of the sons I had in that decade immediately got jobs (one in the police another as a cameraman on TV.) Son No 3, born in 90's had part-time work in Waitrose and very quickly got a job in the Civil Service. There was not the atmosphere of desperation, either. The two older could afford to move out immediately and share rent with a friend, the younger lived a year with me and a year with in-laws and had enough deposit to buy. That is not possible now and I think it is unfair to youngsters not to recognise their plight. I wouldn't blame anyone for not wanting to teach - for a pittance, and risk suspension for wrong pronoun! Something needs to change and it starts with waking up and facing facts, in my opinion.

undines you have to look at the big picture, not your own family experience because with all due respect that’s not representative. The statistics don’t lie as long as you compare like with like. The economic situation of the country goes in waves, and every decade has tough periods - there is no evidence to support this decade being any different overall.

"• Teacher as authority: knowledge is largely transmitted from an expert to learners.
This model has obvious strengths. It can provide broad access, shared knowledge, socialisation, and a relatively reliable way of preparing people for complex work. But it was built for a world in which knowledge was relatively scarce, occupational roles were more stable, and learning was expected to happen mainly before employment."

When I left school at 16 in 1964 with 5 GCEs I had a good basic education and a lot of manual skills learned at school. BUT education did not end, in my case it was 3 yrs day release from work then 2 yrs technical college.

That was the route for 90% of school leavers only 10% went to university, sending 50% to university has been a very expensive failure leading to debt and disappointment and still the education industry try to defend it
.

DAR

I honestly believe that primary school education, especially early years and infant, is about right.

Where I think we (we in the broader sense) is Secondary school educational and it’s very restrictive curriculum, geared almost exclusively around academic achievement.

What I’d prefer to see are different strands of Secondary education geared around the students aspirations, wants, needs and potential.

Not quite sure how it would work in practice but I’d certainly include lessons around independent living, bank accounts, compound interest, how and why our political system is how it is, as well as ensuring at least a basic average achievement in Maths/English/IT with far more emphasis on outside/outdoor pursuits, learning to critically think and the art of negotiation.

Academic achievements are to be applauded, but are not the be all and end.

As I said, I don’t have the answers, but I agree, review and change is required.

watermeadow

I knew the unemployment figures for young people were very high but this has been really brought home to me.
My grandson is in his final year at a large school with an excellent reputation. There is no A level physics teacher so they are being taught by an inadequate maths teacher. All his friends are being tutored so my daughter feels she must do the same. The cost will be put onto a credit card as will all his expenses at university.
Second horror story, I met someone who graduated from Oxford last year in English Literature. He’s working part-time in a supermarket and doing a lot of volunteering, which requires bus fares to the nearest town.
This is the future for all my teenaged grandchildren and I despair.

it was like that when I graduated from University in 1993 and then when I passed my professional qualifications a few years after that. There was 100 plus applicants for every trainee solicitor role. Things haven't got worse, they are the same I'm afraid

no its not, most are influencers or love islanders, no grafters amongst them, should have taken apprenticeships in plimbing, joinery, electrician, always in demand

MissAdventure

My two grandsons; one is an electrician, and the other on his way to being a plumber.

That’s handy MA 😀

It’s a sorry state of affairs for young people nowadays. They are pressurised to go to Uni and take daft degrees and then either drop out or get saddled with huge debts.

I know loads of them who cannot find a job.

I think for many kids apprenticeships are the way forward in really useful occupations like electricians, plumbers, builders etc.

These youngsters who are trying to find work, would be better off doing voluntary work to get some practical experience and develop their common sense too. All volunteering groups are screaming for volunteers for both hands on and Admin, particularly IT admin. It looks good on their CV and it helps the VCSE group tremendously. There are grants to be had for employing staff too, which could be used although it would be minimal wages. Better than sitting at home despairing. Please encourage your youngsters to volunteer in the trade they are looking for work, you never know it may lead to a position within a few months.

win

These youngsters who are trying to find work, would be better off doing voluntary work to get some practical experience and develop their common sense too. All volunteering groups are screaming for volunteers for both hands on and Admin, particularly IT admin. It looks good on their CV and it helps the VCSE group tremendously. There are grants to be had for employing staff too, which could be used although it would be minimal wages. Better than sitting at home despairing. Please encourage your youngsters to volunteer in the trade they are looking for work, you never know it may lead to a position within a few months.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

nanna8

And then there’s AI - wouldn’t want to be an architect or an accountant these days. I don’t think anyone is ‘blaming’ anyone, just feeling sympathy for the young ones who have it pretty tough these days.

Family member left their accountancy job, to go roofing. Reason was that AI could do their job better than they could.

MT62

nanna8

And then there’s AI - wouldn’t want to be an architect or an accountant these days. I don’t think anyone is ‘blaming’ anyone, just feeling sympathy for the young ones who have it pretty tough these days.

Family member left their accountancy job, to go roofing. Reason was that AI could do their job better than they could.

Not quite don't believe that, you need someone to put the data in, in the first place.

Actually win it is true. My sil went working with his dad roofing, actually earning more money than working in car insurance.
Now moaning that roofing is harder graft than sitting on his computer all day.

Our daughter attended university and left with student debt but with no job related to her qualifications. She did hard unrelated manual jobs just to earn money. Her work now is not remotely related with her degree or masters because of lack of opportunities.

Our son won awards learning his trade and runs his own business but it's a struggle because of costs overheads and competition.
My concern is for our grandchildren and their future.

What I don’t like here is they sell houses to people residing in another country and then the property is left empty for weeks on end. They can purchase because they have more money than anyone living here. That is plain not fair. Countries like the cook islands and Vietnam have more sense. You have to be a local or just have a lease. All about money at the expense of the people. The UK in reverse I suppose. All the things we do push prices up for youngsters and now are prices are the same as London only slightly more expensive.

It was no better in the 1980s we survived and thrived

It was far easier in the 1980s. As a secretary, I was able to buy a nice flat in a London suburb for just under three times my salary. Not a cat in hell’s chance a similar young person could do the same now.