With the economy growing, the number of people in a job rose 283,000 in just the last three months – that’s the largest quarterly rise since records began in 1971.

This means there are a record 30.43m people now in work and the unemployment rate has fallen again to a new five-year low.

Youth unemployment, excluding those in full-time education, is also now at its lowest level since 2008.

We are also seeing business confidence growing, with employers up and down the country hiring again, and who tell us there are jobs out there.

Each and every person who has made a new start or hired someone new is helping make Britain a more prosperous and confident place to be — and as Employment Minister I am committed to making sure everyone has the opportunity to share in the recovery.

With vacancies growing we need to ensure people have the skills and experience that employers are looking for as they expand and take on more staff.

That is why through our network of Jobcentres we have already made more than half a million referrals for training.

Using the expertise of colleges and other private providers we are helping people with things like basic skills and occupational training to ensure they get the skills they need to compete in today’s job market.

We have hugely increased the amount of work experience and employer-led work academies

And almost 150,000 of those referrals were for young people, which is a major priority of mine.

Only through working together — Jobcentres, employers, local authorities, charities, colleges and independent learning providers — will we continue to equip young people to successfully move from education into the world of work.

That is why we have hugely increased the amount of work experience and employer-led work academies available to ensure young people have the right skills for modern workplaces.

We have also been working closely with my colleagues in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to introduce traineeships to help young people aged 16 to 23 develop the skills and vital experience they need to secure apprenticeships and other sustainable jobs.

More than 500 training organisations have indicated that they would deliver traineeships in 2013/14 with many employers already on board.

New approaches such as Social Impact Bonds, including the successful Innovation Fund and the upcoming Youth Engagement Fund, provide an innovative new way to engage, among others, charities, communities and business to fund solutions to complex social problems.

The Think Forward programme is one of ten social impact bonds around the country to be funded through the Innovation Fund. Think Forward is delivered by charity Tomorrow’s People who have placed ten highly trained coaches in East London schools where they identify and support 14 to 16-year-olds at risk of becoming not in education, employment or training.

We are also looking at new ways tohelp young people not in education, employment or training through Jobcentre Plus, in partnership with local
authorities.

Our trained work coaches will help young people navigate the wide array of services on offer and tap into local employment and training opportunities. Jobcentre work coaches have a huge amount of expertise, experience and local labour market knowledge, and we want to use that to help young people get their foot in the door to the career they want.

So as the economy continues to grow and businesses continue to take on more staff, we will do everything we can to ensure people — especially young people — are best equipped to take advantage of the recovery.

The annual conference of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers takes place on Monday, June 2 and on Tuesday at Hammersmith’s Novotel London West.

Among the scheduled speakers on day one is Employment Minister Esther McVey, and on day two is Shadow Skills Minister Liam Byrne.

 

 

The workplace remains subject to male dominance and as such, says Carol Taylor, there is need for a space for female leaders to share ideas where they are in the greater number.

More than 100 delegates went to the Women’s Leadership Network (WLN) annual conference, in London, run in partnership with College Leadership Services.

While not aimed solely at women leaders and aspiring leaders, delegates were overwhelmingly female.

Is there a need for a space where women who are in, or who aspire to, leadership can come together? Are there strategies that women need to learn? Are there decisions that women face that men usually don’t face? Is there really a level playing field with no glass ceiling?

It was interesting how the conversations changed over the day — early comments like “I was very annoyed my boss sent me on this….why would I want to go to a leadership conference only for women?” became: “It’s great to have a chance to hear how successful women lead”.

The change of atmosphere was palpable as the day went on — women expressing how good it felt to be in the majority, those who began to feel more relaxed about issues such as career choice, managing meetings, handling leadership. It was clear, for example, that [National Union of Students president] Toni Pearce’s excellent session on lad culture would have had a very different tone with fewer women’s voices.

For me there is a specific need for spaces where aspiring women leaders can come together to share tactics, think about their development needs, and talk to successful women leaders.

No one can seriously doubt the male hegemony, which leads to men appointing men to posts where leadership qualities are required, thus reinforcing the cycle. This is not to say that there aren’t many supportive, open and aware men in senior positions out there, but just to say that there aren’t nearly enough.

No one can seriously doubt the male hegemony, which leads to men appointing men to posts where leadership qualities are required, thus reinforcing the cycle

While we no longer get interview questions such as “What will you do when the kids are ill?”, women are still subject to subtle ways in which they are either undermined or expected to perform in a certain way.

Take, as a very obvious example, the images used in publications and periodicals, which are overwhelmingly white and male. Take the language used to describe women, ‘bossy’ being one of only a number of gender-specific words used as subtle put-downs.

Delegates at the conference, which took place on May 21, were treated to a keynote from Sophia Swire who, among other things, stood up to drugs warlords, set up more than 250 primary schools in Afghanistan.

Her lively speech took us through how she had used networks, persistence and sheer bloody mindedness to change lives and raise aspirations, especially for girls and women. This set the tone for the rest of the conference, which was — you can do most things if you set your mind to it.

The closing speech of WLN chair Sally Dicketts was forthright and pertinent, developing the theme of role models for young men and women in colleges, at all levels, and about the need for us, men and women, to challenge wherever we need to.

She finished by saying that for her, leadership was about kindness — yes, we had to be tough and forthright, strategic thinkers and responsive managers, but above all, we should be kind.

We must have leaders in the FE sector who represent the range of people we work with, the people we want to attract.

We must recognise and value a range of leadership styles. We have to enable women to make choices about whether they want to aim for leadership positions, whether that is as a governor or a chef executive of a
charity, whether it’s as a principal of a college or curriculum leader. It’s up to all of us to make this happen, and the thriving WLN is one place where something is being done.

Carol Taylor, deputy chief executive, development and research, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace)