Entry-Level Digital Jobs Could Help To Ease Youth Unemployment, Claims Jobs Board

Digital entry-level jobs could provide employment to young Brits struggling to find work, according to specialist jobs board Bubble Jobs.

The jobs board advertised just under 4,000 junior and entry-level positions in 2013 – seven per cent of the total roles posted, suggesting that there are jobs out there for young people with the right attitude and digital knowledge.

This announcement came after Employment Minister Esther McVey urged job seekers to consider entry-level jobs as a route into full-time employment.

In a recent interview, Miss McVey said that tackling youth unemployment is her “top priority” after the latest UK unemployment figures showed that the rate has dropped to 7.1%.

The Wirral West MP added that job-seekers needed reminding that they need to “start at the bottom and work their way up”.

Bubble Jobs Managing Director Adam Butwilowski said that even though the majority of jobs posted on the site are for mid-senior candidates, they are already seeing a massive increase in entry-level vacancies this month.

He said: “As the digital industry continues to grow and become more important, we’re definitely starting to see a commitment from brands when it comes to driving new talent into the industry.

“Although our board was mostly dominated by mid-senior level positions in 2013, there were a significant number of more junior jobs available than ever before.

“These roles called for candidates with a number of core digital skills which young people already have, as well as an ambitious, positive attitude and a passion for digital.

“We are just three weeks into 2014 and are already starting to see an increased number of junior/entry-level jobs available on the site from a number of well-known brands.

“I expect that trend to continue as more and more brands start to expand their digital workforce and build up their own dedicated in-house teams.”

This news will be welcomed as a recent Labour Force Survey revealed that the number of young Britons in long-term unemployment has hit its highest level in more than 20 years.

The survey showed that the number of under 25s without a job for a year or more increased by 16,000 between September 2012 and September 2013 to 282,000 – its highest level since 1993.

According to the Office For National Statistics, the number of people out of work fell by 167,000 to 2.32 million in the three months to November, while the number of people claiming JobSeekers Allowance in December fell by 24,000 to 1.25 million in December.

The figures also show youth unemployment remains high with an estimated 950,000 18 to 24 year olds currently out of work.

Despite the unemployment statistics suggesting a lack of opportunity in the jobs market, the European Commission last year predicted that there will be 900,000 IT-related vacancies by 2015 with the number of “digital jobs” growing by about 100,000 every year.

Adam added: “The unemployment figures compared to the European Commission figures about digital vacancies show that there is an untapped source of jobs in this industry.

“The majority of young people are already armed with skills such as blog writing, video making and social media so there is nothing stopping them from applying for entry-level jobs within digital.

Views: 231

Comment by Keith D. Halperin on January 22, 2014 at 12:41pm

Thank you Lauren. ISTM that many of these entry-level digital jobs involving blog writing, video making and social media could be done offshore for a fraction of the cost of hiring someone locally.

-kh

Comment by Lauren Riley on January 23, 2014 at 4:34am

Hi Keith,

Thanks for the comment. They could, but I believe that having in-house digital employees is much more beneficial than outsourcing.

Comment by Keith D. Halperin on January 23, 2014 at 1:04pm

You're very welcome, Lauren. It would be beneficial to the people who are gainfully employed by earning a paycheck, their loved ones and friends, and the businesses they support through spending that money, but who cares about those folks,anyway?

All kidding aside wouldn't it be more useful to train folks in decent-paying skills which can't be no-sourced (eliminated), through-sourced (automated), or out-sourced (sent away) for a fraction of the cost of paying someone a  living or even a minimum wage?

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