Tell youngsters the truth: the UK needs you to work not go to university
What skills do we need in rural areas? Just the same as those in urban areas. On which basis this article which looks at England as a whole is relevant for rural communities. It points to the mismatch between the training we provide people with and current patterns of labour demand, everyone wants to be a graduate (and in many senses who can blame them) but many of the professions growing most rapidly do not require such a skills set. This article infers the surplus graduates (and we as tax paying net contributors to their education) are wasting our money. Not sure I would go that far but it is interesting to reflect on how challenging it is to get a reliable plumber or electrician in rural England!!!! The story itself unfolds as follows:
Britain is facing a jobs crisis made in Downing Street and signed off by the leaders of all political parties, starting with Sir John Major, during the past quarter century. The problem is not the number of new jobs – there are lots of those, confounding the sceptics, and could be even more if the labour market doesn’t become over-regulated. The issue is that an obscenely large number of young people with a university education will not be able to find a job that matches their expectations.
Research from the US government, which without doubt applies equally to Britain, suggests that just one out of the top nine occupations expected to create the most jobs this decade requires a university degree.
The picture is truly dire for the army of university graduates: only five of the top 30 fastest-growing occupations expected to create the most jobs by 2020 require an undergraduate degree (or an additional post-graduate qualification) – nursing, teachers in higher education, primary school teachers, accountants and medical doctors – and 10 of the top 30 don’t require any kind of qualification at all.
Among the top 10 fastest-growing professions are retail sales staff; food preparation (including fast-food restaurant jobs); customer service reps; labourers and freight, stock, and material movers; lorry and van drivers; and various healthcare aides, related to the ageing population. This is the semi-secret, and devastating, story that far too few people in government want to talk about.