What do Gen. Z think about work?

Gen Z – What do young people say about future careers?

Red Potato worked with a Local Enterprise Partnership so we could understand what do Gen Z. think about work.
The aim of the project was to help measure the economic and skills outcomes across upto 10 secondary schools in the local authority area. The schools are in Eastern England and contain pupils from a mixture of abilities.

The evaluation and impact project was commissioned to enable local delivery partners to gain a better understanding about existing careers education delivery. Specifically whether careers events were having any impact for young people. The events typically involved lots of employers who were all brought together under one roof for a day. All the state secondary schools in the area received an invitation to attend. At the events students can find out more about local career and job training opportunities.

We wanted to answer the ‘so what?’ question. What difference do these events have on aspirations and future job prospects for the young people who attend.

Businesses, schools and careers hubs each need to gain a greater awareness of the factors that impact young people’s career decisions. By understanding these influences, young people can be helped to make informed decisions about future careers. In addition businesses can learn how they may need to pivot to provide a work environment that will attract young people.

The project is long term and tracks changes over time. Initial results from the research with schools shows that where school students have a attended a careers fair they are up 3 times more likely to name a specific career they are interested in pursuing than those who had not attended a careers fair event.