Chelmsford News
College boss: Be pro-active to tackle youth unemployment
2:10pm Friday 27th January 2012
THE number of young people claiming Jobseekers Allowance doubled in Chelmsford last year.
New figures show the number of 18 to 24-year-olds claiming the benefit for more than six months, jumped from 75 in January 2011, to 150 in December 2011.
Nationally, youth unemployment hit the one million mark in November but one college principal in Chelmsford believes the key is to “grab hold of any opportunity and up skilling opportunities”.
David Law has been at the helm of Chelmsford College, in Moulsham Street, since 2001.
He said: “Sitting there waiting and hoping is not the way forward – you’ve got to be proactive.
“Contact training providers or colleges and see if there’s anything available to help improve your skills. The more highly skilled you are, the more likely you are to get an opportunity when it comes up.”
Although the situation appears bleak for young people, Mr Law said things “always get better”.
He added: “I think we have just got to tough it out. The only alternative is throwing in the towel and that’s not going to do any good.
“We will get through it but it might get worse before it gets better.”
It’s not all bad news though. General unemployment statistics in Chelmsford continue to buck the national trend with the number of people out of work falling for the fourth month in a row.
In the Chelmsford area, unemployment has fallen by eight to 2,829, and in the Chelmsford parliamentary constituency by one person to 2,036.
Simon Burns, Chelmsford’s MP, said: “Although the reduction in local unemployment is very slight, this is the fourth consecutive month Chelmsford has seen a fall in the figures and the levelling out of the number of unemployed people locally is very encouraging.
“Obviously, I would like to see unemployment in Chelmsford continue to fall and I do appreciate some people are still struggling to find work, but these latest figures do demonstrate the situation is continuing to improve locally.”