On the 9th of October, Ballymun Job Centre held the first hub with our associated partners. Representatives from local organisations CDETB Youthreach, Dublin Northwest Partnership, Dublin City Council, SEETEC, and Ballymun Rediscovery Centre attended the meeting, which highlighted the challenges faced by both young people NEETS and employment and education services supporting these young NEETS in North Dublin.
Difficulties in the Labour Market
Our meeting identified some crucial challenges faced by young people when navigating the labour market.
1) Young people lack confidence and are intimidated by recruitment processes, and those from a disadvantaged background feel that they lack the necessary soft skills when looking for jobs.
2) Young people perceive that there is a skill gap between the skills they have, and the skills employers want. As a result, there is a need for increased training and preparation of young people pre- job search.
3) Apprenticeships are hard to access, offering more opportunities to those in academic sectors rather than those in VET settings.
4) There is also a desire for work experience and observation of different work environments among young people, with the hope of career progression at the end of the placement.
What can our partnership do to tackle these issues?
To tackle these challenges, the local partnership identified areas where collaboration between agencies could be increased.
· Some partners are looking for placements for clients, while other partners offer work experience.
· To foster entrepreneurial and soft skills, programmes such as Enterprise Education provided by the DNP, and Start Up Ballymun from the DCC, offer training to those interested in improving competencies, or becoming self-employed.
· Our partners highlighted the fact that employment supports need to be adapted for those with disabilities and learning difficulties, and that referring clients to other specialised services can provide tailored guidance approaches for these clients which was considered very important to our partners.
What next for our Dublin partnership?
Based on our discussions, the partnership has agreed to work together to develop a mapping of updated services and options available for young people and those in work in employment and educational sectors.
Mapping the local services available for young NEETS will allow the establishment of a more cohesive strategy to improve the integration of young people into the labour market.