In April 2020, Careers England and the Career Development Institute (CDI) in partnership with dmh associates (Deirdre Hughes OBE) conducted an online survey to identify how careers companies and careers professionals in England were responding to the impact of Covid-19 and the social distancing lockdown measures.
The main purpose was to investigate how careers companies and practitioners were responding to customer needs and to identify current trends and recommendations to inform public policy. The findings highlight a key question for citizens during and after the pandemic; where do I go for careers support?
The main recommendations include:
• A national Youth Employment Taskforce with cross-departmental ‘buy in’ and joint action plan
• Every young person in school or college aged 16 -19 (in Years 11-13) to be immediately guaranteed a careers interview with a trained and qualified career development professional
• An enhancement of the existing September guarantee
• A highly visible national media campaign to promote careers support
• Broadening of the National Careers Service to include face-to-face careers support for all young people
• A local careers support framework in each local authority/local enterprise partnership (LEP) area
• Minimum guaranteed income for those most vulnerable
• A system in place for career development professionals to track destinations and offer additional wrap around support for those most vulnerable and those not in education, employment and/or training (NEETs)
Read our recommendations in full and download the paper here.