Young people in Orkney are being asked for their thoughts on how local employment support agencies can best help them move into employment, training or further education.

The Youth Employment Survey has been developed to better understand how COVID-19 has impacted young people and their options regarding education, training and employment, as well as better understand their knowledge of the support services that currently exist in Orkney.

The survey was developed in partnership by Job Centre Plus, Skills Development Scotland, Developing the Young Workforce Orkney, the OIC’s Community Learning and Development and the Youth Forum.  It is open to all young people aged between 16-24 years, whether they are still in education, in an apprenticeship, working or currently unemployed.

Rachel Scarth, Project Manager of Developing the Young Workforce Orkney, said,:

“While the economic impact of Coronavirus is being felt by people of all ages, we know that young people will be adversely affected.  This has been recognised by the Scottish Government, who have committed £60 million of funding towards tackling youth unemployment in Scotland, while the UK Government are investing in the Kickstart Scheme to support young people into employment.

“Along with local partners, we are keen to find out how young people in Orkney have been impacted and if coronavirus has disrupted their intended destination following school, college or university, an ongoing apprenticeship or their employment opportunities.

“The information gathered in the youth employment survey will help local support agencies better understand how young Orcadians have been affected and enable us to put in place the right support to help.”

Rhona Shearer, Customer Services and Partnership Manager at Job Centre Plus in Kirkwall said:

“At Job Centre Plus we are keen to gain insight from young people about how Coronavirus has affected them, so that we can offer the right type of support to help them.Job Centre Plus can offer a range of support measure to help people apply or prepare for a job, but we want to make sure that these meet the needs of our local clients.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership on this survey and I would encourage all young people to take this opportunity to tell us what help they need to move into employment.”

The Youth Employment Surveyis now live and can be accessed here:  https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RK6LSSR, it will be open until Friday 23 October 2020.