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

[Hmmmmwhy]

just heard this on the telly, is this correct? Anyone any anecdotal data (your own children- mine are much younger) of why? I find that astounding imagine if these young people never work, terrifying

A lot of schools have dropped, or won't support, year 10 work experience. In my area the few that still allow two weeks work experience have nothing to with finding a placement.

Only children with good contacts and family support can find somewhere. My DS wasn't able to do it (no companies replied to his emails) and he said about 25% of the other kids were at school as normal in that fortnight. In an ideal world the local council, large retailers and offices should be on board with work experience.

Yes it would annoy me too

Recently I’ve seen some very young looking teenagers working at my local cinema and swimming pool. Also a few in local pubs. But the shops around me seem to be mainly staffed by older workers.

Same. My town has a huge Goan population (biggest in the UK). Lots of older Goan women, not teens.

In the two LAs I live between, they want a three years driving licence. In areas were there is competition for jobs, the average under 23 year olds don't stand a chance.
A lot of jobs have gone, as said. Pubs aren't busy enough to pay a designated glass collector, you've got to be old and experienced enough to serve/waitress as well. There's no unloading jobs, you've got to be able to drive or have fork lift experience.
As for the poster who talked about cleaning at 13, there'd be no chance now. I see lots of young people doing much more than previous generations have had to do, they are better educated etc, but things are weighted against them.

I heard a lady on R4 explaining that because of the internet companies are getting thousands of applications per job, as people can just click a button and apply for 100 at a time. Because of this the companies are having to filter the responses. This means things like "need a degree" or "has to have experience".

So yes, young people can't get work.

@lavenderlou can she do on line work

Think you're misunderstanding my post. Driving is not required in the vacancies oftenadvertised. It's working in the recycling centres sorting out residents waste at weekends. Walking from one skip to another, sweeping debris etc.

My eldest children have been working in part time jobs through college and now have full time jobs.

My third child is currently in college and has a part time job but it is zero hour seasonal (wedding hotel) so she's been looking for a winter job and not getting any luck.

The main incentive mine have had to work young is for driving lessons and a car (we are rural with limited buses). A lot of the town youngsters my third knows right now haven't got part time jobs.

I think it is tougher with online applications. We used to be able to pop in get a paper form and have a chat to see how good our chances might be.

There are plenty of jobs for youngsters who actually want to work.

There really aren't

My daughter has applied for 200 since September - she’s kept a record.

There really aren't. There might be "plenty" of jobs for people with a few years of experience, but fresh out of education? Not at all. DD couldn't even secure a volunteer role as they wanted two years of retail experience. She applied for everything and anything until she managed to finally get a job MONTHS later. It certainly wasn't due to lack of trying or lack of applications.

Its also easier for companies to hire people either full time or on flexible contracts rather than having to work around school hours etc. So when I was at University but was working at a fast food place weekends, I had a big argument with the manager because he wanted me to come into work on a bank holiday Monday because "Bank holiday counts as a weekend day". I still had classes on a Monday so refused. He was an arsehole but its easier for the people writing the rotas not to have to factor in half the staff only being able to work weekends and evenings (but not too late in the evening).

For winter jobs, depending on where you are Royal Mail always used to be a good bet for Christmas jobs - they start hiring extra workers a few months before so you (or your child) need to apply then but the pay isn't that bad and working in sorting offices doesn't require driving.

Of course it might have changed now in line with Royal Mail's new apparent policy of "throw half the parcels in a bin".

It's just so sad, and society can't really afford that many kids to go to uni either hence they are paying a fortune in fees and no guarantee of a job at the end of it.

Lots of people 15 years older than me only had HND qualifications, by my generation businesses were looking for BSc with Hons

I'm half convinced the policy was about reducing the unemployment figures rather than actual having a qualified population

Yes, I heard that too. It was The Bottom Line with Evan Davies yesterday. About networking.

There's always one 🙄

@Needspaceforlego

Yes my thought too

Massages unemployment figures

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.

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.

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.

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!

@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.

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