The Smart Works Stakeholder Roundtable
In August, Smart Works brought together key partners, including Ingeus, Women’s Work Lab, and the 10000 Interns foundation for a stakeholder roundtable featuring two inspiring young women who have benefited from our services. This gathering served as a crucial exchange of personal experiences and professional insights, focused on exploring how we can ensure that young women have access to the opportunities they deserve.
With 2 in 3 clients securing employment within a month of visiting us, Smart Works is well placed as an evidenced part of the solution, but we recognised that a collective societal effort is essential to better meet the needs of unemployed young women and effect meaningful change for all our futures.
Key Insights from the Roundtable
Our discussions revealed a compelling consensus: young women are not simply seeking short-term jobs; they are aspiring to build long, fulfilling careers.
To gain a deeper understanding of the challenges these young women face, we commissioned focus groups specifically targeting this demographic. The feedback from these sessions highlighted several key barriers to employment, including:
- Lack of Constructive Feedback: Many young women reported receiving poor or no feedback on unsuccessful job applications. This lack of guidance hinders their ability to learn, adapt, and ultimately grow from the experience.
- Financial Constraints: Insufficient financial support often prevents young women from covering essential costs associated with job searching, such as travel expenses for interviews. These financial burdens can be an overwhelming roadblock in their journey toward employment.
- Unique Circumstances: Personal difficulties often complicate job applications. For example, those experiencing homelessness face challenges such as the inability to provide a permanent address on applications, which can be disheartening and exclusionary.
- Competitive Market: The 2023 Smart Works Unemployment Index revealed a striking 37% of young women felt underqualified for the roles they applied for which could partially be a result of entry-level positions requiring experience young women haven’t yet had the chance to gain. This sense of inexperience is compounded by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, intensifying competition, further marginalising younger candidates.
To address this growing crisis, it is essential to implement targeted support programs and policies. These initiatives should focus on providing young people with the skills and resources they need to succeed in the job market, as well as creating a more supportive environment for young women.
The Path Forward
Every journey begins with a single step, and everyone needs that first opportunity to start theirs—not because they possess all the skills from the outset, but because they have inherent potential and the capability to succeed. It is crucial for society to recognise the potential, ambition and drive in young women but it’s our job as a charity to instil confidence and help them realise the potential in themselves.
As we look to the future, it is imperative that we continue to cultivate an environment where young women feel supported and are given the opportunities they need to thrive. Together, we can dismantle barriers and pave the way for a brighter future for the next generation of women entering the workforce.
A monetary donation will help fund our transformative interview preparation service, which will support over 10,000 women this year. 63% get the job within just one month of appointment.
Donate £10 today and be part of a young woman’s success story.