YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN

Most of the working population in Britain-about 90 % - are employees who work for a wage which is paid either weekly or monthly. Another 6% are self-employed, working on their own and paying themselves from the profits of their work. Another 3% are employers who must first pay their employees and then pay themselves from the profits of their businesses. However, it is not simply true that the 3% of employers directly employ all the employees. About a third of the working population are employed by the State. And many of the biggest 'employers' in Britain are not individuals but trusts, or financial organizations representing hundreds or thousands of shareholders. These big businesses are managed; it is in the interests of managers to make profits, part of which will be put back into the business in the hope that it will become even more profitable, and part of which will be distributed among shareholders. The management will be among the shareholders.

How do the young find their place in these various types of establishments? What problems do they face? These are the questions that mostly interest us.

When a pupil leaves school at 16 or later, he or she must find a job. School leavers without special qualifications will probably visit a 'Jobcentre' or look through local newspaper advertisements. Perhaps, there is a factory in the district, or someone says there is a shortage of clerical assistants in a nearby office. School careers offices can offer advice. But ultimately it is up to the boys and girls themselves to find work.

Graduates from universities and other colleges are in the same position except that they are older and looking for different kind of work. Usually they start their search near the beginning of their third year in college. The professional work many of them want normally requires further specialised training, so the first step is to get a place on a training course - and a grant or some other funds to pay for the course. Probably, the first stage will involve some kind of exam or an interview -necessary procedures for choosing which applicants shall be given place on the course, which may lead to a job in the end. (Such courses are essential for librarians, computer programmers, social workers, accountants, planners and many other kinds of qualified workers.) Certain organisations take graduates directly and train them while they are working - for example, the BBC. (The BBC is immensely popular with those graduates who are looking for exciting jobs in the 'media'. They will eagerly study newspapers for announcements of vacancies, and apply in their hundreds for any one vacancy.) A committee has to read through the papers and select maybe eight or ten applicants for interview. At the interview they will be asked their reasons for wanting the job, and have to answer questions about their academic career, other activities and (often) questions which seem to have no point but which reveal their personality and general suitability for the job. From the candidates' point of view, interviews can seem both bewildering and artificial: » What does he want me to say? What's she getting at? How do I appear to them? and Would I be better being more 'natural'? and Can I be natural in this artificial situation anyway?"

Eventually someone will be selected. If the fortunate candidate is not happy with all the conditions of the job (pay, hours of work, pension rights and so on) he doesn't have to accept it - but once he has signed the contract he cannot leave the job without giving notice (of maybe 3 or 6 months) and he cannot be thrown out of the job without notice and without good reason. All the other candidates have to start looking elsewhere.

Having found the job, you certainly don't expect to stay in it for life - very often you move from one employer to another and consequently from place to place to get promotion or a better salary. Very often young people find themselves on short-time contracts (1 or 2 years) at the end of which they have to look for another job. Such uncertainty is part of their life.

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