Chamber seeks insight into Covid impact on young people

A business engagement exercise which seeks to understand the impact of Covid-19 on young people in Birmingham has been launched by Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.

Part of a wider research project with Birmingham City Council, it seeks to understand the impact of Covid-19 on young people and what needs to be done to prevent a 'crisis cohort ' with diminished employment prospects and earning potential.

As part of this engagement process, the GBCC has produced a survey which aims to gauge feedback from businesses in the region on existing initiatives to support 16 to 24 year olds into work experience and employment.

In addition, the survey aims to understand the potential barriers preventing firms from offering work experience to and employing more young people aged 16 to 24.

It will also look capture suggestions from businesses on how they could be supported by anchor institutions, such as BCC and business membership organisations, such as the Chamber, to offer work experience and employ a higher percentage of people in this age group.

The survey, which takes just five minutes to complete, and runs from today until 23 April.

Raj Kandola, head of policy at the Chamber, said: “This is an extremely important piece of work that we are delighted to be partnering with Birmingham City Council on in a bid to understand the barriers that businesses are facing in attempting to hire young people aged between 16-24.

“The devastating impact of the pandemic is there for all to see and it 's been particularly tough for young people either trying to secure work experience or a role.

“This research will play a vital role in exploring the issues that young people are facing when it comes to looking for a role but also the difficulties that firms in the region are facing when trying to hire or offer work experience to 16-24 year olds.

“We are keen to hear from businesses of all sizes operating in sectors across the board - every single response we receive will play such an important part in shaping the Council 's strategy around how we can offer more opportunities to young people at a time of great uncertainty. ”

Click here to fill in the survey.