BUSINESS leaders from Southampton met with young unemployed people to hear first-hand about their challenges in securing employment.

The event at Jobcentre Plus Southampton was developed in partnership between JCP and responsible business charity Business in the Community.

The event called ‘Time2Talk’ forms part of a national campaign called Generation Talent, |which aims to encourage employers to make a small change to their recruitment process to increase the number of unemployed people they recruit.

Representatives from local employers including Bouygues UK, B&Q, Whitbread and Kier attended the event which included a tour of the job centre to |show the journey of a young |person from claimant to employment.

Jo Pickrell, operations manager at JCP, said: “Many employers have pre-conceptions |of their local job centre and by bringing employers and young people together we have been |able to breakdown some of the barriers in securing employ-|ment.

“Employers have also gained an insight to our employer engagement offer which can help businesses in filling their vacancies.”

Young people joined the session to speak first hand with potential employers to pick up some hints and tips on how they can boost their employability.