School-leavers ‘lack essential workplace skills’

You’re 18 and leaving education, the world of work is at your feet. Or is it? Not so, according to the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

A survey by the business group has found eight out of 10 British school-leavers “lack essential business skills” such as numeracy.More than 80% of young people require “significant training” before being put to work, according to the 4,000 finance professionals questioned. The figure is worse than last year, when 75% of school-leavers were said to need this level of help after being hired. The top areas of weakness for new recruits are people skills and business skills, followed by technical skills. Read more