Amy Harcourt Shares Insights From A Young Person’s Perspective On How To Break Down Barriers Into Work for Young People

We chat with Amy Harcourt, who was a speaker at the Breaking Barriers collective. Amy reflects from a young person’s perspective, what we need to do to Break down Barriers for young people into work, into continuing education, all with the aim of sustainable work.

The Breaking Barriers Collective, in partnership with Edge Foundation, was a collective intelligence event focused on bridging gaps for young people into work and continuing education, and revisiting the NEET puzzle.

Chatting with Amy was really insightful, as Amy is an ex-NEET, now on a programme, and was able to share first-hand experience and suggestions on breaking barriers into the world of work from a young person’s perspective.

Amy discusses the importance of relevant opportunities in the world of work from education, especially from university and the HE route into the world of work. When thinking about policy changes, Amy suggests looking at early intervention, providing support in the school system to help young people be job- and work-ready, and exploring career paths with young people from an earlier age.

Sharing from first-hand experience, Amy explains the importance of the school system and education in general in not ‘giving up’ on young people who drop out, or come across difficulties and the importance of creating a wider support network for young people.

Check out the video below:

Thank you to OAL, who were the media sponsor for the Breaking Barriers collective.

Check out our previous interviews with:

Praful Nargund Discusses Breaking Barriers to Youth Employment and Youth Engagement

Olly Newton: Why Systems Thinking Is The Key To Breaking Barriers For 1 Million Young People