On page 6 of the report:

“A skilled workforce can only be achieved with high quality and meaningful qualifications … Employers hold in high regard the combination of knowledge with the useful hands-on skills such as time management, communication, problem solving and planning …”

The balance of knowledge and soft skills continues to be highly valued.

Page 8 reports on new evidence of what employers want:

• Wider character, behaviours and attributes are considered to be the most important consideration when recruiting school and college leavers.

• Close to three-quarters (74%) of employers are satisfied with the academic knowledge of young people who have applied for jobs during the past 12 months.

• Being ‘work ready’ remains a priority, with two in five (40%) reporting that they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with wider character, behaviours, and attributes.

• One third (33%) are either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied by the amount of relevant work experience young people have.

• Firms value all forms of qualification with almost a third (29%) looking for a mix of academic and technical.

• For firms that need employees with languages other than English, major European languages continue to be those most in demand, led by German (37%), Spanish (35%) and French (32%).

 

There is a lot about being ‘work-ready’. Although we can work out what that means, the comment:  “… three consistent themes […] unite every attempt to define ‘work readiness’ – knowledge, skills and character …” is helpful.

Page 22 defines Character, Skills and Knowledge. It says how important these are, but points out that there needs to be a blend of all three to prepare young people for the modern world.