22nd May 2025 Workforce ready
The Talent Foundry is proud to support the launch of Barclays LifeSkills' latest report, Workforce ready: supporting young people with the employability skills that businesses need for growth.
This timely publication highlights how collaboration between government, education, and business can help young people become work-ready and support long-term economic growth.
Our CEO, Jenni Anderson, joined Matt Hammerstein, CEO of Barclays UK, and Kirstie Mackey OBE, Managing Director of Citizenship at Barclays, at a roundtable event with MPs at the House of Lords with fellow civic society organisations to mark the launch and discuss the report’s implications.
The report provides evidence of how LifeSkills has supported young people build their employability skills and develop their aspirations, as well as helping teachers and schools embed employability and financial education into a wide range of lessons and age groups.
It has five recommendations:
- A common language for employability skills
- Embedding employability into the curriculum
- A whole-school approach to employability
- Professional development for senior leaders
- Provision of tailored support to disadvantaged young students
The Talent Foundry has been working with Barclays LifeSkills since 2013, delivering facilitated sessions to over 250,000 young people across England in primary and secondary schools.
The partnership brings together young people and Barclays colleagues to build confidence, and has evolved to include intensive interventions in under-served areas through work insights sessions and mentoring opportunities in Barclays offices, and inspiring venues in towns and cities.
Following the launch, Jenni Anderson said:
“We were delighted to join the roundtable and share our LifeSkills experiences with MPs and fellow charitable partners. With a third of businesses feeling that 17–18 year old school leavers are not prepared for the world of work, this report really highlights the opportunity for employers, government and education to support many more young people develop their skills to be part of a thriving society and economy."
The report includes several case studies from schools adopting a whole-school approach and embedding the learning into the curriculum, as one teacher at a SEND school explains:
“For our students, progress often happens in a slow, incremental way. You won’t see an immediate transformation after attending a workshop, the benefits accumulate over time. This has become an essential part of our curriculum. One of the biggest challenges our students face is the belief that their special needs limit their future opportunities. It's shown there isn’t just one straight career path. This concept has been incredibly empowering for them.”