UK retailers plan to create up to 100,000 short-term placements for young people not in employment, education or training (Neet) over the next three years to give them a first step on the ladder to paid work.
In partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), more than 40 retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Pets at Home, Asda and the John Lewis Partnership, will offer Neets aged 18-24 placements of two to four weeks to gain “the skills and confidence needed to take their first step into work”.
The move comes after the former health secretary Alan Milburn warned in a recent report that the 1 million Neets in the UK could rise to 1.25 million over the next five years unless ministers intervened.
Milburn, who is leading a review into Britain’s crisis in youth worklessness, welcomed the retailers’ initiative, saying too many young people were stuck in a vicious cycle of “no experience, no job”, leaving them shut out of employment opportunities.
He said: “Six in 10 young people who are Neet have never had a job. Unless we can increase work opportunities, Britain’s Neet crisis will get worse not better.”
Other employers signed up to the scheme include Tesco, New Look, Wickes, Currys and Greggs.
The prime minister, Andy Burnham, said: “Opportunities like these can make all the difference, helping young people gain the confidence, skills and connections they need to get started in work.”
The scheme, known as Opening Shift, follows the appointment earlier this year of the former M&S chief executive, Marc Bolland, to head a taskforce to tackle the growing youth unemployment crisis.
Bolland, who led the retail chain from 2010 to 2016, has secured the support of retailers for the work placement scheme amid warnings that the country risks a “lost generation” without urgent intervention.
Participants will continue to receive universal credit throughout their placement, mainly because of the logistical barriers claimants face when accepting short-term jobs that mean quitting and then rejoining the welfare programme.
The programme was developed with retailers through the British Retail Consortium and the DWP and has 11,305 placements already pledged.
Bolland, who is also a senior non-executive director at the DWP, is understood to have been chosen for the role thanks to his involvement with the charity Movement to Work, which had already helped more than 200,000 unemployed young people find jobs.
He said: “My work as founder and chairman of Movement to Work showed me first-hand what’s possible when business and government work together to open doors for young people.
“Today’s announcement takes that further, creating thousands more opportunities for young people to build a future in one of Britain’s biggest industries and I’d encourage every retailer to look at what more they can offer.”
Each participant will be guaranteed an interview at the end of their placement, which will vary from 16 to 35 hours each week. Retailers will offer each recruit a “buddy” to help them navigate the new role, with the aim of moving as many recruits as possible into a job should one be available, Bolland added.
The DWP said it would use jobcentres to allow Neets to access the scheme.
Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the BRC, said: “Retail is uniquely placed to make a difference on the Neets crisis, given the industry’s scale and reach touching every corner of the country.
“Work experience is a first step, and with the right conditions for businesses to invest and create new entry-level jobs, employers across the economy can help tackle the Neet crisis.”
