Marks and Spencer is launching a new training scheme with 1,000 roles for young people to tackle growing unemployment rates.
The paid scheme will be aimed at 16- to 24-year-olds over the next 18 months and is intended to help the rising number of young people who are currently not in employment, education or training in the UK and Ireland.
Known as Neets, the latest figures show that more than a million young people are in this position, with a key review warning that one in six would be Neet in five years if the government did not take action.
It is the highest level since the three months to December 2013, when the figures were calculated with a different methodology, and also represents a 55,000 increase compared with the previous quarter.
The data showed that 613,000 of these young people were considered economically inactive – meaning they are unable to work or not seeking work – over the period, marking a record high.
open image in galleryReview author Alan Milburn said the first rung of the career ladder is “simply out of reach” for many young people, and concluded it is not this group’s fault but rather “failure of a system stuck in the past”.
Mr Milburn said there is not one cause alone, with factors including the pandemic, smartphones and the jobs market.
M&S said its new scheme would provide six months of training, with successful participants then receiving further training to become a store manager. Participants do not need a degree to be eligible.
Retail director Thinus Keeve said: “We want more young people to see retail not just as a first job, but as a career with real opportunity, real responsibility and real progression…
“This programme is about opening doors for the next generation and giving talented young people the chance to thrive.”
open image in galleryWork and pensions secretary Pat McFadden vowed that tens of thousands of new work experience and training placements from construction to hospitality will be made available for young people as part of Labour’s efforts to tackle joblessness.
The 300,000 new placements over the next three years are backed by some of Britain’s biggest employers, and include Manchester and Gatwick airports, and the government has vowed the placements will reach young people across the country.
The training, also expected to include health and social care, was confirmed just a day after a report warning of the risk of a “lost generation”.
The Department for Work and Pensions said the 300,000 placements will comprise work experience and what are known as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (Swaps).
The latter are short government-funded programmes for jobseekers claiming benefits, offering training, hands-on experience of the workplace and a guaranteed job interview, the department said.
open image in gallerySir Keir Starmer has also pledged that no community will be left behind in the “tech revolution” as he unveiled new AI tools aimed at helping jobseekers into work.
A new “AI assistant”, announced on Monday and designed to provide 24/7 guidance on topics such as career development and job applications through a “CV builder” feature, will be trialled for around three months online.
Officials hope the tool will serve as a “job centre in your pocket” for people seeking employment.
The Tories cast doubt on how effective the AI tools would be in helping people into work, warning that jobseekers need a “strong economy where employers can afford to hire them” rather than an app.
“We welcome the use of technology to help support skills development but if it’s anything like the AI Skills Hub they launched earlier this year, this initiative will be another damp squib,” shadow technology secretary Julia Lopez said.