Work Placements Become Permanent Fixture in UK

A "Happiness Index" survey made by City and Guilds reveals that more than 20 per cent of respondents have left or are considering leaving a job because they want a change in career.

City and Guilds in alliance with other organisations works to build a world in which all people and organisations can access the skills needed for economic and personal well being. They want to become a world-leading provider of qualifications and learning support for work and adult life and to provide more people with relevant skills to increase prosperity for individuals employers and nations. City and Guilds promotes excellence, engagement, integrity, innovation and fulfillment and is committed to taking vocational education to the next level by forging partnerships that deliver the skills and training required to truly develop a cutting edge workforce for economic prosperity.

The result of their survey has a big impact on the perception of the workers happiness in their jobs. The research was made on over 610 employees and over 600 human resources managers but if the results are extended to the British working population we end by having more than six million people unhappy about their actual job.

Besides the fact that City and Guilds is highlighting this problem, they are also offering a solution: work placements could prevent this situation by allowing employees and bosses to try out each other's "compatibility".

Vocational qualifications experts at City and Guilds advise that the results of their research only sustain the idea that allowing future employees to try out a career could provide them with a valuable and realistic insight into a profession, while employers would size them up without committing themselves. Companies are competing for talent in a jobseeker's market, but more than 30 per cent are still not taking advantage of the full benefits that work placements offer. What work placement actually offers is the joint between work experience organised through a school, a placement during a tertiary course commonly referred to as a "sandwich course", and internships or secondments.

The head of national policy development at City and Guilds, Ms Judith Norrington advises that "UK businesses need to consider work placements as a serious tool in enhancing recruitment and realise the commercial advantages that they can offer their business."

Some of the employers are becoming more receptive towards work placements and an increasing per cent of them see work placements as a good way of assessing potential staff or to be good part of their training and recruitment policy. The idea is that work placements should play a key role not only in career choices for students, but they can also benefit adults who are looking to return to the workplace or change occupation. More than a third of returners said that a placement would help them make an informed decision and more than 60 per cent said that they had continued working in the sector where they had taken their work placement.

Ms Norrington explained that "Work placements provide an ideal opportunity for employers to attract experienced adults or career changers into their industry. As the number of young people entering the labour force diminishes by 60,000 each year, employers will need to tap into a broader range of workers of all ages and experience."

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A "Happiness Index" survey made by City and Guilds reveals that more than 20 per cent of respondents have left or are considering leaving a job because they want a change in career.