13 Mar 2012

Channel 4 Jobs Report: Where will the jobs come from?

How do we find 2.5 million jobs? We’re launching the Channel 4 Jobs Report – an interactive project looking at the biggest question facing the UK economy in 2012.

There is no story more powerful in the UK right now than people’s financial struggles. It affects all those bar the rich, and affects no one more than those who have lost their job.

The number of unemployed people in the UK at the beginning of 2012 stood at 2.67 million – the highest level in 16 years. Young people have been hit the worst, with 23.1 per cent of the 16-24 age range out of work.

Channel 4 News has launched details of a multi-platform interactive project – the Channel 4 Jobs Report – which aims to unearth positive stories about job creation in Britain, while exploring the challenges faced by jobseekers in 2012.

At the heart of our investigation will be a detailed examination of where the 2.5 million jobs are going to come from. The focus will be on compiling a multimedia document, with your help, featuring contributions from the country’s leading entrepreneurs, job-creators, educators.

It won’t be academic, it will be based on testimonies and interviews produced by our own journalists and through stories and your social media contributions.

And we want you to tell us about your first job. Were you driving tractors like Jon Snow? Or delivering papers like our Economics Editor Faisal Islam? We’d love you to upload a 60 second video telling us about your experience – or tell us on Twitter.

We will be working with a panel of C4 Jobs Ambassadors – non-political leaders of industry and experts who will be on hand to share their skills and answer the key questions as the project progresses.

Later this year we will present the report to political leaders from each of the main UK parties, to business and the unions.

Add your voice today via our new Facebook page: facebook.com/Channel4JobsReport
Join the conversation on Twitter - @channel4news use the hashtags #c4jobs and #myfirstjob