Young Person's Guarantee
Bringing together employers, partners and young people.
Bringing together employers, partners and young people.
The Young Person’s Guarantee aims to connect every 16-24 year old in Scotland to an opportunity - from a job or apprenticeship, to further or higher education, training or volunteering.
DYW North East plays a key part in the delivery of this initiative. We help employers in the region to pledge their support for young people by offering opportunities in the areas that are the best fit for their business.
Employers are instrumental to the success of the Young Person's Guarantee. By pledging your support, you are helping to develop our region's young workforce, as well as building your business for the future by gaining earlier access to future talent.
It's simple to get involved. Navigate to this page here, where you can complete the short pledge form online (remember to select North East as your regional group in the drop down box). There is also an option to download the form, complete it and return it to info@dyw.org.uk.
Your pledge is built around areas of support and creating opportunities for young people. There are four broad areas where you can get involved (you don't have to commit to them all):
Once you have submitted your pledge, the DYW North East team will provide you with ongoing support. You can read more about the four different areas below.
This area of the Young Person's Guarantee pledge asks if you could inspire young people to gain the skills they need for the workplace and help them to achieve their potential. Offering work placements, mock interviews, in-school presentations or awareness sessions are all great ways to prepare young people for the world of work.
Benefits for your organisation
Could you pledge to offer work-based learning and training for young people via apprenticeships or other entry level programmes? Employing young people on Modern or Graduate Apprenticeships is a great way to develop your organisation's skills profile.
Benefits for your organisation
Creating meaningful, sustainable jobs and opportunities - and working to end discrimination - are central to the Young Person's Guarantee. Employers can show their support in this area in various ways, such as paying the Living Wage, recognising trade unions and addressing the gender pay gap.
Benefits for your organisation
Sharing your experiences and becoming an advocate for the Young Person's Guarantee and DYW North East helps to create a ripple effect, resulting in even more opportunities for young people. This area of the pledge asks whether you could encourage others to get involved too.
Benefits for your organisation
The Young Person’s Guarantee is a collective commitment that every young person aged between 16 and 24 in Scotland will be guaranteed either the opportunity to study at university or college, take part in an apprenticeship programme, take up a job or work experience, or participate in a formal volunteering or training programme according to their own personal circumstances.
There are lots of ways you can support the Young Person’s Guarantee beyond offering jobs. Examples include supporting young people in school to better understand and prepare for the world of work through Developing the Young Workforce. Working with training and employability providers to offer work placements, work preparation or support, or offering a young person the opportunity to volunteer in your organisation.
The economic impact of the recent pandemic has been felt most acutely by certain groups with young people being hardest hit. The Young Person’s Guarantee is a call to action to support this generation so their valuable contribution to the economy of Scotland is not lost.
This will require employers who have not previously been involved in supporting youth employment to get involved, but also those who have previously been involved to think about other ways they could support this generation. This might be through more involvement across the 5 Asks, developing work practises or encouraging others to follow their leadership.
There is a range of support available to help companies recruit and train young people. DYW North East can help you explore options and the support available.
There do not need to be any direct financial costs to the employer in being involved, depending on the commitments they make and how they can give young people the support they need to enter the workplace.
Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships can be used to develop and upskill existing staff as well as a recruitment method. To find out more visit apprenticeships.scot.
Young people bring a wealth of talent, creativity, and enthusiasm to an organisation. Multi-generational or age diverse workplaces are considered a great way to future proof your business and increase innovation. Providing opportunities for young people is an investment in your business, and the future of the economy.
The Young Person’s Guarantee aims to act as an ‘umbrella’ for all the available opportunities for young people. Many of the programmes within it are not new but the Guarantee will help employers navigate the landscape of existing activities and make it easier to access the skills you need.
The DYW North East team are happy to chat you through the Young Person's Guarantee and the pledge document. You can also find out more about it here.