Summary

• Career development has a central role in responses to COVID-19.
• Growing evidence that career development programs can have a positive impact on mental health
• Lifelong career development is back on the agenda. There is also strong recognition that immediate additional career support is needed for young people.
• COVID-19 is leading to a widening gap between the well off and those in poverty. In some countries (South Korea and Hungary) the virus is being used as a political tool to increase control.
• Reduction or ending of wage subsidy payments such as JobKeeper will require access to career services at these crisis points.
• The career development profession is uniting to advocate and lead career development during the crisis.
• Increased funding available for innovative practice in many countries. Examples include pop up career services, collecting stories of resilience, improving quality, and online work experience.
• National Career Development Strategies are being updated    

Career interventions create hope and practical next steps toward a positive future in an environment of uncertainty.

Increasing access to a range of career services to assist participants with transition support, motivation, employability skills and wellbeing is becoming a priority for more countries.

Awareness of where services can be accessed and ensuring the quality of services provided is a challenge but promotion of services is effective in some countries.

Approaches to career development in challenging times is highlighted in the Forbes interview with Sareena Hopkins- https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelbarthur/2020/07/25/seven-ways-career-development-can-help-you-and-others-in-challenging-times/#55e4a2e15f03 .

Australia

• Unemployment 7.5% and 3.5 million on JobKeeper (workers receive $1500 a fortnight which reduces to $1200 from October and $1000 from January 2021)

Individuals receiving JobKeeper or similar are only now seeking careers support and that is likely to increase as JobKeeper reduces.

People on temporary visas and international students are experiencing significant hardship and need career support to access networks that might lead to employment.

Initiatives and reports of interest:

• New National Careers Institute website –  https://nci.dese.gov.au/
• Review on pathways into work for secondary students at https://www.pathwaysreview.edu.au/
• Productivity Commission youth income decline report notes that young people suffered income loss even before the pandemic. See report visual summary  – https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/youth-income-decline/youth-income-decline-visual.pdf
• Youth Futures Guarantee – see https://cica.org.au/wp-content/uploads/NYCA-Youth-Futures-Guarantee-2020-1.pdf ; The Youth Futures Guarantee aims to lay out a framework of reforms and initiatives that will support young people meet the great challenges of the future and benefit Australian businesses and the community.
• South Australian Off to work we go report – https://cica.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Off-to-Work-Report-Web.pdf
• Second edition of Guidelines for Career Products and Services – https://cica.org.au/wp-content/uploads/CICA-Guiding-Principles-for-Career-Development-Services-and-Career-Information-Products-2nd-Ed.pdf

Finland

COVID-19 cases are rising as travel options increase. Citizens are being encouraged to wear masks. Unemployment is 7.7%. Universities are mostly online but schools are operating. 

• 21 million euros has been allocated for the development of guidance and career education to support the extension of compulsory education from 9 years to 12 years and for the development of specific projects.
• NEET students have access to career guidance for a year after leaving school. 
• Strong emphasis on guidance for adults and a specific focus on upskilling.
• The national cross-ministerial strategy for lifelong guidance will include a focus on post-Covid initiatives.
• Funding has been allocated to improve career guidance in public employment services
• Career and Career Guidance in Nordic Countries is now open access see – https://brill.com/view/title/57290

New Zealand

Unemployment could rise to 16% by early 2021. Supporting SME’s is critical for the NZ economy and there is a role for career development interventions. And assisting clients to understand the process of career development has mental health benefits.

• The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has put out for tender the “Online Career Planning Solution” the new digital platform for Government career services replacing the current careers.govt.nz website.
• Funding is available to deliver a project-based series of community career events/g​ui​dance drop-ins and “pop ups” as a response to Covid-19 and to fill an identified gap in face to face delivery. (https://www.tec.govt.nz/). The Career Development Association of NZ (CDANZ) will deliver parts of the community project.

Canada

Government is funding several demonstration projects that can successfully address career development needs or undertake innovative research.  

• An increasing focus on youth
• A recent CCDF project in the eastern region of Canada showed clients receiving career services demonstrated significant positive changes across multiple dimensions of their mental health. The results have not been published yet, but it is very promising.
• Development of an effective employability assessment tool is providing a good understanding of client career development needs.
• Development of a series of benchmarks underpinning a strong career development sector underway
• Collecting stories of resilience and career development is a current project

Wales

Career development has a central role in responses to COVID-19.

Careers Wales is developing a new vision and strategic plan (2021-2026). More information will be available at the Virtual International Conference – http://dmhassociates.org/conference

Career Education is now firmly embedded in Primary Schools. Discussion on how to integrate career education more effectively into the new curriculum that is due for release in 2022 is underway.

Northern Ireland

• A task force is being established to look at assistance for 14-19 year olds
• Every young person is guaranteed a career interview
• A new national career development strategy will be released later this year
• The OECD completed a Skills Strategy Review in Northern Ireland and is likely to recommend a common standards framework for careers provision across all sectors  
• The Department for Economy is looking at the feasibility of setting up a new Artificial Intelligence Unit with a focus on skills.

England

9 million UK citizens are currently furloughed (equivalent of JobKeeper) which ends in October. 2 million young people are now in poverty and there is call for a career guidance guarantee for all young people.

There are positive signs of further increases in funding for career guidance with an initial 32 million pounds for the Career and Enterprise Company programs.

Under the Gatsby benchmarks 2.4 million pounds has be made available to pilot innovations in personal 1to1 career guidance. More blended models with greater parent involvement are being trialled. Research for the Treasury on the return on investment of 1to1 career counselling has shown positive results.

There is also a growing interest by employers in virtual work experience.

Scotland – The new Careers Strategy has now been published. Services are all actively responding to the impact of the pandemic and how to respond with agility. Co-location of career services and cross sector partnerships is increasing.

Regarding the Apprenticeship system, the OECD notes that Scotland’s strong and resilient work-based learning system is well-placed to support economic recovery from Covid-19. It recommends:

• Introduce demand-led funding for apprenticeships
• Establish minimum requirements for the length of apprenticeship programmes and for the proportion of off-the-job training
• Develop a non-apprenticeship route to the for experienced adult workers.
• Develop master craftsperson qualifications to open up higher level technical learning opportunities for apprentices.

South Korea

The 2nd crisis of COVID-19 is currently occurring in South Korea and all schools will close and on-line classes will recommence. All workers will work from home.

Many Koreans believe that government is using COVID as a political tool to control Korean people (a similar situation is occurring in Hungary). The current liberal democracy is under challenge.   

The focus on helping people to improve their quality of life in COVID times is the main issue for CD practitioners and researchers.

In education there is a call to develop and promote VR and AR technologies in a more active manner. Schools and society are being asked to make more effort to improve support infrastructure and digital literacy to prevent some students from being neglected in digital blind spots.

For more information contact:

Peter Tatham

E: peter@tatham.com.au

M: 0407853196