Give 12-year-olds career advice to stop them wasting their working lives says CBI director-general John Cridland says teens are woefully ill-equipped to deal with job market The business leader says Government is 'laissez-faire' about career advice His comments came as poll found 77 per cent of people regret their career Adrift: Teenagers are not being given the career advice they need, according to a prominent business leader Children as young as 12 should be given careers advice to stop them wasting their working lives, a business leader said today. Instead, teenagers are leaving education with little knowledge of the jobs market, CBI director-general John Cridland warned. Formal careers advice had been left on "life support" since schools and colleges were given sole statutory responsibility to advise children about their futures, he warned. Mr Cridland accused the Government of adopting "too laissez-faire an approach" by over-relying on teachers, with the result that family and friends often have to "pick up the pieces." The comments came a fortnight after the Coalition's new social mobility tsar, James Caan, was embroiled in an embarrassing nepotism row. The former Dragon's Den panellist suggested children should make their own way in life - only for it to emerge the private equity and recruitment tycoon had employed his two daughters and four other members of his family. Mr Cridland told the Grammar Schools Heads" Association annual conference: "The jump from school or college to work is getting bigger year-by-year, decade-by-decade. The education system needs to develop the rigorous, rounded and grounded young people who can make that leap. The competition for jobs has never been so tough, with young people hit by a double whammy of slow economic growth and a rapidly changing labour market. Yet it's alarming there is such a big mismatch between the skills that young people have and the realities of the workplace. We cannot afford to waste talent and investment when the long-term outlook is still so fragile. John Cridland, Deputy Director General of the CBI, says young people will have to contend with slow economic growth and a rapidly changing labour market James Caan, the former Dragon's Den panellist, suggested children should make their own way in life, but it emerged that he employed his two daughters and other members of his family It's clear that the careers advice system has not worked for employers or students for many years. A job for life has been and long gone - today's jobs market is much more complex. Young people need reliable, high-quality advice but the system is too dependent on individual teachers or it's left to family and friends to pick up the pieces. That's simply not good enough. We know careers advice is on life support in many areas, as schools struggle with the new statutory duty. It's right that schools should have the freedom to run their own affairs but the Government may have adopted too laissez-faire an approach, with serious consequences for our young people. Mr Cridland, whose organisation represents 240,000 businesses, said "face-to-face" guidance was needed for pupils aged 12 and over and called for the National Careers Service to be given access to schools. A report from the Commons Education Select Committee earlier this year warned there had been a 'worrying deterioration' in careers advice available to young people At present only adults have personal contact with NCS advisers. Young people contact the service over the phone or internet. He also recommended the government's new traineeship programme and 16-19 study programmes should have impartial careers guidance and firms should volunteer employees to mentor pupils and offer career support. The National Careers Council released a report earlier this month which called for more to be done to ensure young people were informed about a wide variety of jobs. John Cridland Those in greatest need, it said, were youngsters from less deprived backgrounds who don't have access to the social and family networks that more privileged people can use to find work. The Commons Education Select Committee has also raised concerns about the issue. A report earlier this year warned there had been a "worrying deterioration" in careers advice available to young people. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the "bewildering array" of career routes meant many made the wrong choice. "A national telephone helpline and a website are useful for information but they are no substitute for a conversation with a qualified, knowledgeable careers professional who can help them make informed choices," he added. John Richards, head of education at public sector union Unison, said providing careers advice had been "dumped on schools with no extra funding." The speech coincided with a poll of 500 workers that found 77 per cent admit having regrets about their career choice. Four per cent of workers felt they should have chosen a less pressurised job, according to a poll. Over a third yearned for a more exciting or worthwhile job, while 31 per cent wished they had chosen something more lucrative and seven per cent wanted a less demanding role. Four per cent felt they should have chosen a less pressurised job, according to the poll for office space provider officebroker.com. A Department for Education spokeswoman said the new system replaced one that was "patchy, costly and often of poor quality." The National Careers Service website had received seven million visits in its first year and a webchat facility had been used more than 67,000 times by young people, she added. "It is clear that headteachers are best placed to judge the needs of their pupils and the type of careers advice they will most benefit from," the spokeswoman said. We have issued guidance to schools to help them fulfil their obligation, and Ofsted has said it will prioritise the inspection of careers guidance from September. The current system replaced the Connexions Service, which was run by local authorities and provided universal careers guidance.