70% Of Younger Workers Have Forgotten How to Conduct Themselves in an Office

Studies of business leaders and younger workers have revealed evidence of a "development dip", which left unaddressed, could result in a permanent loss of skills in the workforce.

Twin studies in the UK reveal the way the pandemic has harmed the professional development of 16?34-year-old workers.¹ They follow global trends research, which suggests young workers have lost out on work during the pandemic. ² Questionmark, the online assessment provider, says employers must act on the emerging evidence, to prevent a skills loss becoming a permanent feature of this cohort of the workforce.

In a survey of 250 business leaders at large companies, commissioned by LinkedIn, almost nine out of ten (87 percent) admitted young employees had suffered a Covid-related "development dip".

A complementary survey of over 1,000 workers aged 16-34 found that two thirds (69 percent) believe their professional learning experience has been impacted by the pandemic. The effects could be long-lasting, with almost three quarters (71 percent) saying they had forgotten how to conduct themselves in an office environment. An International Labour Organization report found that the decline in employment rates among young workers was 2.5 times greater than that experienced by older workers.

John Kleeman, Founder of Questionmark, said: "To make sure the pandemic disruption does not lead to a permanent loss of skills, employers must tackle the ?development dip' head-on. Workplace training and development is an investment that brings a positive return to both employer and employee. Considering the extraordinary circumstances through which we are currently navigating, these studies will rightly be seen by many as a signal for action."

As employers consider the impact of the pandemic on their staff, online tests and assessments can offer real information around development issues across their workforce. The results of the assessment reveal what kind of support is needed. Further assessments can check whether training and interventions are successful. With hybrid work patterns showing no sign of abating, senior business leaders have noted the benefits of online training, such as greater time and cost efficiency, the personal relevance of tailored coursework, and more modular content allowing workers to log on at times that suit them.

Find out more about online assessments can play a crucial role in addressing the "development dip": https://www.questionmark.com

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Notes to editors

About Questionmark

Questionmark unlocks performance through reliable and secure online assessments.

Questionmark provides a secure enterprise-grade assessment platform and professional services to leading organizations around the world, delivered with care and unequalled expertise. Its full-service online assessment tool and professional services help customers to improve their performance and meet their compliance requirements. Questionmark enables organizations to unlock their potential by delivering assessments which are valid, reliable, fair and defensible.

Questionmark offers secure powerful integration with other LMS, LRS and proctoring services making it easy to bring everything together in one place. Questionmark's cloud-based assessment management platform offers rapid deployment, scalability for high-volume test delivery, 24/7 support, and the peace-of-mind of secure, audited U.S., Australian and European-based data centers.

¹ http://hrnews.co.uk/9-in-10-business-leaders-say-young-people-hit-by-covid-19-development-dip/
² https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_795453.pdf