‘What Skills Will Young People Need For Work in 2030?’ Campaign and Talk Series

How leaders of today joined us in helping equip young people for tomorrow

From resilience and leadership skills to coding and maths — the UK’s leading figures shared their advice and inspiration with state school students across the UK.

In March 2018, Speakers for Schools’ national talk series honed in on ‘What skills will young people need in 2030?’, with over 30 of the UK’s leading figures in the charity’s network lending their support by sharing their unique insights from a range of industries including science, technology, the arts and the economy.

With support from the i paper and YouGov the campaign aimed to help show leaders of today how they can be a force to help equip young people for tomorrow both through sharing their insights and expertise and now partnering with us on work experience through S4SNextGen.

Our survey found:

38% of the students think a lack of work experience opportunities will stop them from being successful in the future
33% of the respondents stated they don’t have access to work experience through people they know, with 13% stating they have access but it wouldn’t be ‘good quality’
29% of the respondents feel not knowing the right people would stop them from succeeding in the future
71% of the respondents believe it would be more difficult to get a job in 2030 compared to now due to the automation of jobs

Each ambassador speaker gave a talk at a state school as a part of this series, with talks taking place across the country in March 2018. Speakers shared their unique views, inspirations and insights respectively as key figures in their field to discuss what skills they believe young people will need to thrive and particularly the skills they have used to get to where they are today. The campaign aimed to help spark inspiring conversations in state schools, open up access to insights on future skills from industry leaders, and create an ongoing discussion about how young people can best prepare for jobs that do not yet exist, what skills are considered fundamental by leaders and influencers today and how to cultivate the skills that will be essential for their future.

Our ambassador speakers for this campaign are linked to this page, be sure to check out their profiles to see the range of leaders supporting the series! See our full media release here: Launching Today, #Skills2030

Statement of Aims – our next generation manifesto

Speakers for Schools is calling on the UK’s leading figures and their companies to help young people obtain the skills they will need in 2030 and support the next generation, and spark meaningful conversations in schools across the UK. The campaign is calling for:

Fairer access to work experience: We are calling on sector-leading employers to join the charity in opening up work experience to state school students, via our dedicated platform S4SNextGen.
Conversations in state schools: We are urging the UK’s leading figures to join Speakers for Schools in directly engaging young people through talks that share insights on their area of expertise, help them see how the world is changing and encourage them to cultivate skills essential for future success.
Including young people: We are encouraging young people to actively share their aspirations, concerns and questions with the country’s leaders to help inspire a wider dialogue in state schools across the UK.

How can you get involved?

Leading Employers
We are calling on the UK’s sector-leading employers to open up their work experience to students without networks. Click here to find out how S4SNextGen can help.

Students

Want to have your voice heard? Follow advice from industry leaders? See how you can take part, here: www.speakers4schools.org/get-involved-students/

State Schools

See more about how we will be sharing highlights, advice & resources for our state schools to use during and after the campaign, here: www.speakers4schools.org/get-involved-teachers/

Industry Leaders

We are calling for industry leaders and the UK’s influential figures to give a talk with our charity speaking on this subject. Find out more about being a Speaker here.