Last night, I attended the launch of the REC's Youth Employment Taskforce reportsummarising the urgent steps that government needs to take to facilitate job creation for young people.

The evening kicked off with a few homes truths from CEO Kevin Green. For starters, more than 20% of 16 to 24 year olds are not working, that's a startling 1 million people. Not only is this costing the UK economy £4.7 billion, it is also damaging their future job prospects.

 Baroness Margaret Prosser, chair of the Taskforce and vice chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) put it like this, "When times are tough, people employ experience rather than taking a risk and employing potential."

 Both speakers made it clear that it's not about getting the stick out, but turning rhetoric into reality and policy into practice. Everyone has a role to play which is why this taskforce brought together leading employers, recruiters and welfare providers as well as organisations such as the CIPD, CBI, TUC and EEF to feed into the recommendations for government.

 As a bit of an aside, a big shout out to a couple of lovely ladies that I got talking to at the event. It's refreshing to talk to people who are so passionate about their jobs - and I can see why. Remploy helps people experiencing complex barriers in the workplace and Prospectus is a not-for-profit recruitment agency that specialises in finding work for homeless people.

 The clear message that I went away with from yesterday's gathering is that there's a real need for concrete action from business, government and education if we are to avoid a lost generation.

Susie L