Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and ongoing, Dr Sally-Anne Barnes and Professor Jenny Bimrose have been drawing upon their latest research to support the international careers guidance and counselling community by delivering online learning via a number of webinars.

Nearly 400 practitioners from professional associations and government departments from across the world have participated in the webinars and are drawing upon IER research to inform their practice. Webinars have covered recent research on how to support parents and carers in providing careers support, careers labour market information, and lifelong guidance policy and practice.

Since the start of the pandemic, the UK Government has described the numbers of individuals applying for Universal Credit as ‘unprecedented’ with 2.5 million applications since the lockdown in March. So with unemployment levels at an all-time high and global changes to work and labour markets as a result of the pandemic unavoidable, this is the time to think about enhancing the system of support and guidance in the UK. A system is needed that not only supports those out of work to return to the labour market, but also supports those who have had to change their role, and/or take on new roles. What seems likely is that most of those who are more able, more skilled and more adaptable will return to the labour market faster, whilst those who are less skilled and less resilient are more likely to struggle to return to the labour market.

Throughout May, Sally-Anne Barnes, Jenny Bimrose and Alan Brown have been delivering a number of webinars for the careers community in the UK and internationally.

Webinars have covered their recent research on the role of parents in providing careers guidance and how they can be better supported, and lifelong guidance policy and practice in the EU. Training webinars are also planned on the use of labour market information (LMI) as part of the new learning modules available on the LMI for All website.

So far, webinars have been run for the Career Development Institute (CDI) in the UK, as well as the New Zealand Career Development Association (CDANZ) and the Careers and Transition Education Association (CATE) with many more planned over the next few months, including for Australia. Listen to the CDANZ webinar here.

A recent report from the Resolution Foundation suggests that youth unemployment could rise by 640,000 this year and the Association of Colleges is predicting around 100,000 leavers will find it difficult to gain work and work-based learning. So with these record unemployment levels amongst young people predicted, an important issue that is likely to emerge strongly for the careers profession from the COVID-19 pandemic is exactly how educational institutions can maximise the impact of their work with parents and carers to support the young people in their care with their career education and progression. This, of course, also has the potential to help young people continue to learn and develop whilst away from their schools for any reason, including any future periods of social isolation that might be necessary as a result of recurrent waves of infection.

Lifelong guidance policies and practices are viewed as crucial parts of current EU policy initiatives around validation of learning and the Pillar of Social Rights.

The aim of the research, undertaken by Dr Sally-Anne Barnes together with colleagues at the IER and the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä, was to examine lifelong guidance policies and practices and to provide an evidence base for priority-setting, as well as supporting dialogue with stakeholders on lifelong guidance and, more widely, skills strategies.

The final report presents findings from the research identifying 11 key features of lifelong guidance systems in the EU, lifelong guidance actors and innovations in practice. It concludes with some recommendations for the Commission and those in working in the careers field. Read the press release here.