![\"Ann](\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/AF_MG_1111_1130-Hi-3-1-scaled-e1780323611311-300x200.jpg\")
Ann Francke, chief executive of the CMI<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Ann Francke, chief executive of Chartered Management Institute, commented: “Britain is watching a generation drift away from work, confidence and opportunity, while too many workplaces remain completely unprepared for the young people finally arriving through the door.<\/p>\n “Alan Milburn\u2019s report throws Britain\u2019s workplace failures into the spotlight: too many managers still rely on outdated cultures built around presenteeism, poor communication and sink-or-swim leadership styles that actively deepen anxiety and disengagement for a bedroom generation shaped by lockdowns, digital overload and economic insecurity.<\/p>\n “Britain has focused heavily on getting young people into jobs, while paying far too little attention to whether workplaces can actually support them once they arrive,” she continued, adding: “Time and again, we see how an amateur first manager can destroy confidence far faster than any Jobcentre can rebuild it.”<\/p>\n Joe Nellis, economic adviser at accountancy and advisory firm MHA, pointed out that the longer someone is out of work, the more unemployable they become, which in turn leads to lower lifetime earnings, slower career progression and greater exposure to insecure employment.<\/p>\n “Lower employment among young workers reduces productivity, weakens tax revenues and increases pressure on welfare and public services, straining government finances,” he said. “If entry-level opportunities continue to decline, where are the leaders of tomorrow coming from?”<\/p>\n Clare Belford, early careers and apprenticeships lead at Sodexo UK & Ireland, suggested that too many young people are struggling to access that crucial first step into work, often because the route is unclear, inconsistent or simply out of reach.<\/p>\n “What\u2019s increasingly evident is that traditional approaches alone are not enough,” she said. “At Sodexo, we work with youth employment partners to understand what really makes a difference for young people and how we can help bridge that.<\/p>\n “That isn\u2019t always easy, including for large employers already balancing multiple priorities, but it makes prioritising support for young people in our communities all the more important, because without deliberate action, those pathways will remain closed to many.<\/p>\n “That means offering meaningful early exposure to the workplace, whether through virtual experiences, short placements or practical insight into real roles, helping young people build confidence and understand what different careers actually look like in practice,” she added.<\/p>\n Lizzie Crowley, senior skills adviser at the HR industry body the CIPD, said that the Milburn report makes a strong case to introduce an Apprenticeship Guarantee for all 16 to 24 year-olds.<\/p>\n CIPD research shows that nine in 10 employers would support this and half would provide additional apprenticeship places over their existing provision if this were introduced. “This would need backing from the UK Government and at regional and sector level,” she commented, adding: “Without this level of ambition, there\u2019s a real risk of a lost generation of young people.”<\/p>\n Lizzie Crowley, senior skills adviser at the CIPD<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Crowley also argued that the government must recognise the link between new measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025 and employers\u2019 ability to invest in skill development and jobs for young people.<\/p>\n “For example, changes to the unfair dismissal qualifying period are likely to make employers more cautious about taking on young people whose potential is untested and could make it harder for firms to extend probation periods if new starters need more time to improve.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s also important that proposed new requirements for minimum guaranteed hours for zero hours workers don\u2019t discourage employers from providing these roles given they enable young people to balance studying while working,” added Crowley.<\/p>\n Amy Speake, chief executive of recruitment advisory firm Holmes Noble, argued that the Apprenticeship Levy has become a tax most employers try to claw back, rather than money they spend on training young people.<\/p>\n “Reform it so the funding follows under-25 entry roles, not in-house courses rebadged as apprenticeships and hiring young people starts to make sense again,” she opined.\u00a0“A properly funded Youth Guarantee helps, but policy alone will not fix this because policy did not break it.<\/p>\n “Every business leader reading this can do one thing – take the degree requirement off a job that does not need one and interview someone under 25 they would not normally have seen – do that at scale and a million young people stop being a statistic.”<\/p>\n Trying to find first jobs has become increasingly difficult since the pandemic, with many retail and hospitality businesses still reeling from the impact of Covid-19 when the Labour government made changes to employer National Insurance (NI) last April.<\/p>\n Danni Hewson, AJ Bell head of financial analysis, commented: “Those entry level roles, such as a Saturday job washing dishes, a paper round or shelf stacking at the local convenience store, help develop the soft skills and work readiness that employers are looking for.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s a catch 22 situation for many young people, they are told they need experience to find a job but can\u2019t get that experience without first getting a job.”<\/p>\n The increased cost of labour, jump in the national minimum wage for under 18s, lowering of the NI threshold and changes to employment law have all made businesses reconsider hiring.<\/p>\n “Businesses have cut back on their labour force, in some cases assisted by AI advances which deliver productivity gains today – that could prevent tomorrow\u2019s workforce from being given the opportunity to develop the skills that will be needed when older workers retire, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors,” Hewson added.<\/p>\n Alex Tattersall, employment solicitor at Ramsdens<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Alex Tattersall, employment solicitor for Ramsdens Solicitors, said that the current legal framework – while rightly focused on protecting workers’ rights – can unintentionally cause employers to hesitate when considering hiring younger or less experienced candidates.<\/p>\n “Issues such as complex dismissal processes, uncertainty around worker status and the administrative burden tied to training and compliance, can all act as deterrents to hiring at entry level,” he stated, making the case for more targeted, proportionate regulation that accounts for the risk of first-time employment.<\/p>\n “This could mean structured pathways into work – for example by simplifying onboarding requirements for junior roles without diluting essential protections – while greater clarity around employer rights and obligations from day one would also reduce disputes.”<\/p>\n Hannah Strawbridge, an employment lawyer and head of legal at Inspire Legal Group, agreed that many businesses feel they are being asked to absorb significant risk, cost and management responsibility, without enough practical support.<\/p>\n “We regularly advise employers who genuinely want to recruit younger workers and apprentices, particularly in sectors facing skills shortages – the businesses that succeed tend to be those willing to invest heavily in mentoring, structure and management time – but many smaller employers simply do not have the bandwidth to do that consistently while also dealing with rising costs, employment law compliance and commercial pressures.<\/p>\n “A recurring issue we see is that some young people are entering the workplace with very little exposure to professional environments or basic workplace expectations,” she continued. “That is not a criticism of young people themselves, it reflects wider societal and educational challenges, but employers are increasingly finding themselves expected to bridge that gap alone.<\/p>\n “At the same time, businesses are frustrated by how difficult and bureaucratic the apprenticeship system can be in practice: clients regularly tell us the system feels overly administrative, inflexible and disconnected from the realities of running a business.<\/p>\n “Simplifying access to funding and giving SMEs more flexibility would make a genuine difference,” concluded Strawbridge.<\/p>\n Much of the focus on the Milburn report is on what big employers can do to help, but Gill McAteer, director of employment law at HR consultancy Citation, noted that her firm’s research has found that more than 40% of Generation Z would most like to work for small and medium-sized businesses.<\/p>\n “If you couple that with the fact that SMEs have capacity for flexibility in the hiring process and can offer more informal and personal support to candidates, this puts them at a unique advantage to embrace the potential talent that\u2019s out there.<\/p>\n “Yes, they shouldn\u2019t be asked to shoulder the burden alone, while also navigating tricky market conditions and challenging changes to employment law, but they can offer something different to the next generation than the typical corporate machine, and that\u2019s worth a lot,” she added. “So, they need to be given not just the incentive but the financial breathing room to be able to create these opportunities.”<\/p>\n Gill McAteer, director of employment law at Citation<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Anton Roe, chief executive of software company MHR, came into the business as an apprentice around 30 years ago. He said young people are sending hundreds of applications without hearing back, while entry-level opportunities continue to shrink across sectors that traditionally offered a route into employment.<\/p>\n “At the same time, businesses continue to talk about skills shortages, future talent gaps and the need for more adaptable workforces – there is a clear contradiction there – organisations cannot keep saying they are struggling to find talent while steadily reducing the number of accessible pathways into work.<\/p>\n “The danger is that companies end up designing young people out of the workforce before they have had the opportunity to build experience, confidence and employability,” said Roe, arguing that AI will reshape many roles, but that should push businesses to rethink how early careers are structured, not retreat from investing in them altogether.<\/p>\n “The government urgently needs to work to create a business-friendly economic environment, but in the meantime, businesses need to stop viewing early careers as an area where costs can quietly be cut without consequence.<\/p>\n “If organisations want adaptable, AI-ready workforces in the future, they have to create better routes into work now – with clearer entry points, proper development from day one, and roles that help younger employees build experience alongside digital capability.”<\/p>\n The Milburn report explains that while the neet trend and its causes were already building before 2020, the Coronavirus crisis accelerated them, as schools closed and social development often stalled at precisely the age when it matters most.<\/p>\n “What made the pandemic different from a conventional economic shock was its social totality,” read the document. “It removed the informal scaffolding through which young people learn to navigate the adult world: Saturday jobs, after-school clubs, unstructured time with peers, first tentative encounters with workplaces and workplace norms.<\/p>\n “Over the two decades before the pandemic, part-time employment among teenagers had already been declining, but the pandemic accelerated this erosion to the point of elimination for an entire cohort.”<\/p>\n Adam Thorpe, learning and development supervisor at Bridgnorth Aluminium – the UK\u2019s last remaining aluminium rolling mill – said that a major part of growing up and getting ready for work is learning how to communicate and mix with different people.<\/p>\n “This just didn\u2019t happen for a period of time, with all of us confined to our immediate family and the same environments,” he commented. “We\u2019re still seeing the impact of that now when we are interviewing, with young people coming into work not lacking in effort or attitude, but behind on confidence, communication and the ability to fit into a team.<\/p>\n “On the flip side, it\u2019s also been harder for managers and mentors – the way things are now is quite different to when they were starting out, so it can\u2019t always be approached in the same way – that sometimes creates a bit of a disconnect that is difficult to overcome.”<\/p>\n Adam Thorpe, learning and development supervisor at Bridgnorth Aluminium<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n He added: “There\u2019s also a tendency to say ‘they don\u2019t have the work ethic’, but in a lot of cases that\u2019s not fair; they just need more structure and support to get past social barriers.”<\/p>\n Thorpe’s attitude has been to build people up, rather than expecting them to arrive ready. “We keep things quite close with our younger employees, with regular check-ins, open conversations and making sure support is there early rather than waiting for issues to arise.<\/p>\n “We also do quite a bit of early engagement, including work experience from Year 9 onwards, school and college visits, career talks and outreach and structured placements for Year 10 and 11.”<\/p>\n His call is for more support for apprenticeships and work experience. “The more that younger people can see real workplaces early on, the better prepared they will ultimately be – there\u2019s still a gap between education and what happens in business that needs closing, especially around behaviour, communication and problem-solving.”<\/p>\n Chris Hopton, UK and Ireland chief executive at digital and printing business Ricoh, agreed that mentoring programmes, work placements and partnerships all help give young people exposure to real working environments and the confidence that comes from practical experience.<\/p>\n “Our partnership with The King’s Trust has now been running for more than a decade, and during that time we’ve supported hundreds of young people through mentoring, interview coaching, CV workshops and employment opportunities,” he said.<\/p>\n “Government support for skills and apprenticeship programmes remains important, but employers also have a responsibility to create clearer pathways into work – building stronger talent pipelines requires collaboration between employers, education providers, charities and government – no single group can solve that challenge alone.”<\/p>\n Emma Hughes, partner and head of HR services at Browne Jacobson, said that the most consistent complaint from young applicants is not rejection, but silence, which she described as a damning indictment of how some employers are managing the experience.<\/p>\n “It would be wrong to lay all of this at the door of employers, however, as their behaviour does not develop in isolation from government policy,” Hughes stated. “As employment protections expand and greater scrutiny is placed on casual working arrangements, employers inevitably become more risk-conscious \u2014 and employers are being asked to take chances on candidates with little or no work history at precisely the moment the legal, financial and operational risks of getting recruitment wrong feel higher than ever.<\/p>\n “There is an uncomfortable contradiction at the heart of this, that employers frequently talk about skills shortages and difficulties attracting talent, yet many recruitment processes are designed in ways that exclude candidates with potential simply because they lack prior experience,” she continued, concluding: “The employers that build relationships with young people before they are job-ready will be better placed in a labour market that is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate \u2014 for young people and businesses alike.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Latest unemployment figures and government-backed review reveal the extent of the issue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278857,"featured_media":2112465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137137,120782,127720],"coauthors":[137126],"class_list":["post-2112455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-economy","category-skills","tag-featured-story","tag-national","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\nThe trouble with apprenticeships<\/h2>\n
![\"Lizzie](\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/Lizzie_Crowley-828-e1780323969520-300x200.jpg\")
Hiring freezes from higher taxes<\/h2>\n
![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/Screenshot-2026-06-01-154053-e1780324921559-300x200.png\")
Who needs support?<\/h2>\n
![\"Gill](\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/Gill-headshot-1-scaled-e1780325944323-300x200.jpg\")
Fixing pandemic problems<\/h2>\n
![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/Adam-Thorpe-L-1-scaled-e1780404643402-300x200.jpeg\")