Event

Young people and employment in a digital age

13 November 2020

1:00pm-2:30pm

About the event

Creating meaningful jobs for young people (18-24 year olds) in the current climate is a challenge. Uncertainty is high in a covid-shadowed world, and there are questions about how to develop skills and knowledge that will lead to sustainable career paths.

This event will explore the challenges and opportunities of the youth labour market, particularly in a digital age. It brings together research strands of the ESRC-funded Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (Digit), and will be moderated by Digit co-director Jackie O’Reilly.  Laura-Jane Rawlings, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Youth Employment UK will address the issues of keeping young people employed, particularly in light of the UK Government’s new Kickstart scheme. Ayomikun Idowu will discuss a new research project addressing how young people are engaging in entrepreneurship using online platforms, and will be joined by Monica Richards, who is herself an entrepreneur through Depop. Finally, we will have researchers (Rachel Verdin and Ann McDonnell) examining social protection of young people in a European context and the consideration for jobs in a digital age.

Part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2020, made possible thanks to funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation.