New figures find nearly half (48%) of young people believe they are not being taught the skills employers will be looking for in entry level candidates in the future.

This latest research used the findings of the Future Work Skills 2020 report, which identified the skills employers would look for in entry level recruits over the next decade. The LifeSkills Barometer then asked 2,000 young people and their parents to select the skills they believed would be most important to businesses in the next 10 years, and if they were being taught them.

The young people surveyed and their parents were united in their belief that the top three skills required by employers in the next decade will be: ‘IT skills’ (47%), ‘problem solving and spotting mistakes’ (43% and 46% respectively), and ‘working with people from different generations and backgrounds’ (43% and 50% respectively).

In contrast, the skills businesses say will be most important in entry level candidates in 10 years' time will be the ability to:

• Reason and prioritise
• Work effectively in large teams
• Solve problems and spot mistakes
• Work with people of different generations and backgrounds
• Understand complex data
• Communicate through video/audio rather than writing
• Deal with lots of information at one time and multi-task
• Specialise in one area but also be good at a broad range of subjects
• Get the most out of working environments

The majority of young people did not recognise how important these skills would be to businesses in the future. Two thirds of young people (66%) didn’t know that prioritising workloads, having skills in a broad range of subjects (66%) or working in large teams (65%) would be required by employers in the next decade. 

LifeSkills National Careers Week (LNCW) runs from 2-6 March and aims to highlight the importance of careers advice and guidance. During LNCW, schools, colleges and education providers are encouraged to focus on careers by bringing together students, local employers and advisers through a variety of careers events and activities including; daily drop-in workshops; careers fairs and employer visits.

To find out more and register for information go to www.barclayslifeskills.com