§ Mr. Tom Kingasked the Secretary of State for Employment what action he is taking to draw the attention of employers to the implications for their recruitment plans of the raising of the school leaving age.
§ Mr. R. CarrI am sending the following personal message to employers, which will be distributed by the Youth Employment Service in the next few weeks
My purpose in sending you this message now is to remind you that this is the last year in which you will be able to recruit 15 year old school leavers.Next year there will be a drastic reduction in the number of school leavers seeking jobs because of the raising of the school leaving age. More than 250,000 young people who might otherwise have left school at the age of 15 to enter employment in 1973 will now be continuing their education for at least a further year until they are 16.I would therefore urge you to consider taking on and training more young people than usual this year. Otherwise you may face a shortage of trained young employees in the years immediately ahead.Your local careers officer will be pleased to explain in more detail the effects of raising the school leaving age and to discuss with you your plans for the recruitment and training of young people in 1972.