To coincide with celebrations for International Workers’ Day, NUS recently launched a Commission on the Future of Work which is a call for evidence from students and stakeholders from across the private, public and not for profit sectors on the challenges and solutions to student and study-leaver employment issues. NUS President Toni Pearce says:
“At a time when the cost of studying is steadily rising, and being educated at post-compulsory level no longer offers the long-term employment guarantees it once did, many students and study-leavers across the UK are understandably anxious about the future they face. In response, and in the build up to the 2015 general election, NUS will be placing an increasing emphasis on student and study-leaver employment issues and the need for a #NewDealForWork for the next generation.”
The Commission on the Future of Work seeks evidence on the key challenges facing students and study-leavers, employers, educational bodies and other stakeholders, as well as proven solutions as well as aspirational ideas for solutions. It will investigate the experience of students working while studying; the experiences of study-leavers in labour market after they have finished studying; and the relationship between working while studying and working after finishing studying.
It will explore issues around the job market for students and study-leavers within the following three themes …
- Creating new opportunities – How can more jobs and opportunities be created?
- Quality opportunities – How can issues around pay, progression, terms and conditions and other quality issues be improved?
- Pathways to work – How can we help students and study-leavers from all backgrounds get into work?
The findings will guide NUS's campaigning on employment ahead of the general election, and the Commission will make recommendations to a range of organisations including government and political parties , employers, civil society organisations , the education sector , and the student and youth movement.
NUS will be collaborating with The Work Foundation to write up the findings and recommendations. The Commission will be convened by a panel of experts who bring high level experience and insight on the labour market, the education sector and youth sector more generally. Members include ...
• Toni Pearce, NUS President (Chair)
• Professor David Blanchflower, Professor of Economics, Dartford College
• Michael Davis, Chief Executive, UKCES
• Dr Adam Marshall, Executive Director, British Chambers of Commerce
• Paul Nowak, Assistant General Secretary, TUC
• Peter Cheese, Chief Executive CIPD
• Dr Tessa Stone, Chief Executive, Brightside Trust
• Stephen Isherwood, Chief Executive, Association of Graduate Recruiters
• Dupsy Abiola, CEO and Founder, Intern Avenue
• Dave Simmonds, Chief Executive, CESI
• Sue Ferns, Chair, Unions 21
• Catherine Sermon, Employability Director, Business in the Community
On the face of it, this should have sustainability and the green economy written through it like Cleethorpes through a stick of rock. But will it? Just how joined up is NUS in its thinking about tomorrow? And where is Sara Parkin when a Commission needs her?
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