Employers and Universities - including Staffordshire's Keele - have come together behind a major new plan to help get more graduates into good jobs, and to provide lifelong careers support.

Published by Universities UK (UUK) with support from Pearson and the British Chambers of Commerce, the Future Jobs Roadmap sets out a series of steps for universities, business and government to take to better support graduates into work.

The Roadmap, which is supported by Keele University, has been developed based on conversations with around 200 employers, business groups and universities and responds to the growing challenge facing young people and employers alike.

As the government develops its ten-year plan and industrial strategy, universities are stepping forward with a practical offer hoping to help deliver the high-level skills, graduate talent and growth the country needs.

It also responds to the wider pressures facing young people entering the Labour market.

While graduates are far less likely not to be in education, employment or training (NEET) than non-graduates, the overall number of NEETs recently passed one million for the first time. 

The Future Jobs Roadmap hopes to help graduates of every background, and the employers who need them, to succeed.

Key commitments include:

• An ambition for all undergraduates to have access to meaningful work-based learning by 2035, with a milestone of reaching 50% by 2030.
• Ensuring AI tools are accessible to every undergraduate student, and every course has a lecturer who is an 'AI trailblazer' so that graduates have the skills to be AI pioneers in the workplace.
• Providing graduates with universal lifetime entitlement to careers support both while they are at university and throughout their career to ensure they are set up for success and can navigate labour market change.
• Expanding employer co-designed learning and modular provision.
• Supporting regional graduate schemes to connect graduates with SMEs.
• Making it easier for employers to engage with universities.

The Roadmap also calls on government to support youth employment through targeted measures to encourage recruitment and strengthen pathways into work.

Professor Malcolm Press, President of Universities UK and Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, said: "This Roadmap is the result of universities listening carefully to employers about the challenges they face and the skills they need, and responding with action.

"The message we heard was clear: graduates possess significant talent and potential and employers value them highly. But we need to do even more to help students gain workplace experience, develop professional confidence and prepare for a changing economy.

"Universities want to work even more closely with employers, students and government to strengthen opportunities for graduates and support economic growth."

Professor Kevin Shakesheff, Vice-Chancellor of Keele University, said: "A key part of our new institutional strategy is ensuring we give students the tools they need to flourish, both during their time here at Keele and after they graduate.

"This includes boosting their career opportunities and employability, and this Roadmap goes hand in hand with that objective.

"Working closely with employers means we can also make sure that the graduate workforce meets their needs as well, supporting the wider economy by helping businesses to innovate and grow through access to talented graduates."

Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "Giving firms better access to graduates with the right technical and practical skills is a crucial part of unlocking economic growth. 

"The Future Jobs Roadmap is full of practical ideas that reflect what businesses are telling us they need, and could make a real difference for both employers and employees alike.    

"By closer collaboration between businesses and universities we can get more students workplace ready. Chamber led Local Skills Improvement Plans across England can play a role in that stronger relationship."

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