1.2 million 16-24 year olds currently out of work?

Yes, but didn't that just take what had been polytechnics and re-brand them as universties? There was no actual increase in capacity...

@Tryingtokeepgoing fair point to raise. Although student numbers still increased by near 16% between 1992 and 1997, and then by 10.5%, much slower growth, over the next five years to 2002; then a 19% increase in the five years to 2007. The whole Blair thing, is I think, just a bit more nuanced than sometimes its made out to be.

@Vettrianofan and @Comefromaway - I meant it doesn't appear to be important in terms of the impact on people's long term career - the fact that some may need to earn money is a whole different issue.

Retail jobs are reducing every year. They employ people with experience. Carers jobs or call centres are the areas crying out for staff

I'm out of the 16-24 age bracket now but I think they probably have the same problem older people have - just not enough jobs to go around.

It's surprisingly hard to even get a basic customer service job without experience. I tried at 16-17 but it wasn't until I was 18 and had volunteered (unpaid) extensively that I got to work in Debenhams for an exciting £6.30/hr (this was a few years ago).

My DD got a PT job in care whilst at Uni, 18yo, crying out for them, but you need a car or live in a town and be prepared to walk.

I was pretty shocked, i thought she wouldn't last at it but she loved meeting the older people, very little personal care as the vast majority can toilet themselves.

Qualified workers

You can't just walk into childcare

Gosh, I though child care providers were crying out for workers?

I am one of these young people who can't find a job. I have applied for over 300 jobs since February last year and had 2 interviews. One was for an agency that stopped returning any communication and the other was for an in-person customer service agent at Vodafone, where I did a group interview up against 6 Indian men who didn't even live in England. Make of that what you will.

Nobody is getting back to us. I have childcare experience and retail experience, at least 2 yrs in both. If that's not enough for an entry-level job, what makes you think young people with no experience will get one?

It definitely matters if you want luxuries and Mum and Dad can't self fund your experience at uni.

Not all teenagers get everything handed to them. It helps appreciate the value of money earning your own. I worked before and throughout university life too. You just get on with it.

Exactly

Lots of jobs which once would have "only" been responsible for "easy" tasks now require more training and licences because they either employ less people so need them to be able to do everything or recognise having cross trained staff works to cover absence so they can be like "Reg has phoned in sick so Tim can you cover him as your team can cope one person down but Reg's needs the extra hand"

But I also don't think it's particularly important for them to work either - I've honestly never known an employer show any interest in whether I might have worked in McDonald's at sixteen or not.
I never worked until I left university

It's important if they need the money. My dd is at university on maximum loan & luckily she chose an area with cheap rents but she is on an extremeley tight budget.

I don't think it's all that easy for teenagers to find work nowadays.

But I also don't think it's particularly important for them to work either - I've honestly never known an employer show any interest in whether I might have worked in McDonald's at sixteen or not.

I never worked until I left university - I got every job I ever interviewed for and nobody had ever asked me why I didn't work during sixth form. I just don't think it matters either way.

In my area they don't have those kinds of jobs available. I just checked. Those duties are included in roles that also require a counterbalance (fork lift) licence.

I get plenty of wives calling in sick for their sick husbands so this really is nothing new/specific to young people.

I'm not sure who is to blame but more people in their 40s and early 50s started work with degrees than those in their 60s and 70s.

College certificates are now seen as a stepping stone to a degree rather than a qualification in their own right.
And a fair percentage of people have been forced to up their qualifications to degrees to keep up with the job market.

There was a serious change for those leaving school in the 80s to those who left in the 90s.
I started uni in 93, on a BSc Hons, the people who were finishing the same course didn't do Hons.

Breaks my heart someone close to me is autistic and unemployed despite going on job interviews almost every day. Was trying to explain on another thread on Mumsnet (one where a lot of posters were saying it's just laziness 🙄) that it's not through lack of trying, almost every employer seems to want someone who's "a people person, sociable etc" even when the job involves practically no customer interaction.

Makes it practically impossible for most autistic people who struggle with social cues then after all that rejection they have to put up with being called lazy and waste of space etc

Yes, but didn't that just take what had been polytechnics and re-brand them as universties? There was no actual increase in capacity...

@Resilience I think young people especially benefit from being in an office environment. It's not easy to learn while working remotely.

Many still live at home, and socialise in their bedrooms it's really not good for young people to be working, sleeping, and hanging out in the one room.
They go on about MH issues, that level of isolation is not a natural way to live.

I think its just people. I had a 49 yo woman have her Dad phone to complain about her boss because she had no 'man to do it for her'
Dad was drunk and left a really abusive message on voice mail!

I think we're still in the middle of a process of adjustment, seeking to balance the changing expectations of a new generation of workers with the expectations of employers. It's a process that accelerated somewhat under Covid but has slowed again. There is room to give on both sides.

I don't think some of the 'demands' young people make are actually that unreasonable. Employment conditions would be much better for them.

Why should unpaid presenteeism still improve career prospects? It entrenches inequality, penalising those with caring responsibilities (usually women) or those dependent on certain public transport for example. Take on more staff if you need people to work 12-hour days while only being paid for 8. If you can't afford to do that, your business model is not viable and is being propped up artificially through exploitation.

Need endless flexibility? Offer some compensation in the form of pay or perks. Don't want to guarantee minimum hours? Say so in your job advert in a truly transparent way so only those who don't want the commitment apply rather than being trapped by false promises on 0-hour contracts.

Don't want to offer WFH or hybrid? Why not? Some jobs have to be done on site. Others require some site-based networking to ensure strong collaboration. Fair enough. But if the only reason you object is because you're worried about a drop in performance, sort out your performance management processes rather than refuse to keep up with the times.

However, some young people (certainly not most IMO) also need to recognise that social media is not an accurate reflection of society. Instant success and gratification does not occur in most careers and you need to prove yourself to create opportunities. The world does not owe you a living, even while our society does owe you a fair crack at it through education, a stable economy and good employment law. The rest is down to you and you have to demonstrate you are worth being given those opportunities.

I think these discussions are a positive thing in a healthy society. And as long as they continue at a pace that keeps up with technological and social change, we'll find our way through and probably be better for it.

Of my 2 young adult kids, one is working and one is a graduate applying for posts.

I'm hearing that many grad jobs have hundreds of applicants, most never hear back about their applications and even oxbridge grads with good degrees are struggling to get interviews. My child has applied to 30+ in the last 2 weeks and yet to hear back on any. Hoping that given more time that news or interviews will come.

It's a tough market for getting started. A lot of the big firms have cut or reduced grad programmes from what I've heard.

This age group have had a rough time - lockdown a level and degrees, recession and the fucking internet ramming perfect lives down their throats. I wouldn't trade for all the world.

Are parents perhaps now phoning in because the young adults still live at home with them rather than having their own (rented) homes or living in house-shares? So they are right there to make a drink and do the call if their 'child' is ill.

@Needspaceforlego

Yes my thought too

Massages unemployment figures

There's always one 🙄