The Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa (IESE) has just presented a report on the employability expectations of young people, based on a survey of 53 large companies operating in Spain. The study asks employers for their opinion on whether the current education system effectively prepares future workers to acquire a professional profile that meets the demands arising from technological advances and new work methodologies in the workplace.
Because the employees of the future will have to be proficient in fields such as big datathe internet of thingsthe blockchainthe digital marketingthe electronic commerceand others. And they will have to move in transversal, automated and internationalised environments, in which agile work methodologies, design thinking and the gig economy will be applied. In the future there will be more freelancers, and many of the activities that companies carry out internally will be outsourced.
This will be a challenge for the development of new skills among the recruits of the future, and for the long-term employability of companies. Companies do not see enough cooperation from the education system, nor from the government, to ensure that young people preparing for work acquire the required skills profile.
Skills gap
Some data reflect the difficult situation of youth employment in Spain. The unemployment rate among young people is over 33%, compared to 14% in the rest of the EU. And the OECD estimates that technological changes will lead to the disappearance of 50% of current jobs.
In Spain, 35% of young people certify a level of compulsory education, 24% have an intermediate or higher degree, and 28% have a university degree. However, companies hire 67% of their employees among university graduates. Therefore, in Europe, 51% of those hired have vocational training, a percentage that drops to 24% in Spain. And in our country, 31% of employees perform functions that do not fit in with their degree of training.
Given that changes in the working environment will have taken hold in five years, companies will need candidates with a strong background in finance, big data, digital marketing, languages and blockchain; skills such as teamwork, customer focus, communication, execution and negotiation; and attitudes such as adaptability and resilience, ethical values, entrepreneurship, respect, initiative, creative thinking and multicultural sensitivity.
As a result, the skills gap will widen, according to the IESE report. In fact, the 73% of the companies surveyed believe that this gap has increased72% sees great difficulties in recruiting young people at present, given their poor preparation for the skill profile needs that will be required in the future.
Solutions: Closer collaboration
Another of the IESE report's conclusions is that the education system should teach more skills and attitudes, which help students to function in different work environments. Specifically, companies mention the following proposals:
- Promoting internships through scholarships
- Tax incentives for training
- More relationship between companies and educational centres to promote their involvement in the contents.
- Definition of profiles and competences
- Training support
- Support for communication and visibility
Companies need the education system to improve its contents, through a more complete, holistic and practical training, with emphasis on the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are being valued in recruitment. 87% believes that companies should be more active in collaborating with educational institutions to introduce in the training plans the competences that are going to be required from recent graduates when they want to enter the labour market.
To this end, they advocate greater interaction between companies, universities and educational centres. The government's contribution should be to make the education system more flexible, so that schools can respond to the needs of business by providing them with the following
- the content and adaptation of programmes and modules, and the creation of new degrees
- Incentives for the recruitment of young professionals and trainees
- Favourable tax and labour treatment.
Javier Ferrer
Communications consultant specialising in the world of investment at Proa Comunicación.