Youth Unemployment

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling youth unemployment.

Developing the Young Workforce

Established in 2014, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) is Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy, created to bridge the gap between employers and young people, with a headline aim to reduce youth unemployment levels by 40% by 2021.

The establishment of the DYW Employers’ Forum and 21 industry-led Regional Groups across the whole of Scotland was a fundamental element of moving the broader strategy forward. This continues to be increasingly important in the current climate.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting all young people to achieve their potential and we have a strong track record of tackling youth unemployment through our Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) programme.

We are committed to continuing to strengthen the partnerships within the education and skills system post Covid-19, in order to sustain and build on our current progress, as we outlined in the Programme for Government 2019.

We are continuing to build on the success of our Employer-Led DYW programme to support the implementation of the Young Person’s Guarantee as per recommendations from the Advisory Group on Economic Recovery, led by Sandy Begbie.

£6.25 million has been allocated in 2020/21 for the implementation of DYW School Coordinators in every Secondary School in Scotland, and funding has continued into this financial year (2021/22) - £8.2 million.

The implementation of DYW School Coordinators in every Secondary School in Scotland will strengthen collaborative working across delivery partners and de-clutter a complicated economic landscape to match labour market demand to the necessary employability skills required from employers, aligning to the Young Person’s Guarantee.

To find out more about the DYW programme and your Regional Group, please visit: www.dyw.scot or https://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/youngpersonsguarantee