How are the government and employers tackling the NEET crisis?
One in eight 16 to 24-year-olds are now out of employment, education or training, according to statistics released by the ONS. That's just short of 1m young people classified as NEET.
Jobs outlook
While these figures, which account for the period from April to June 2026, are slightly lower than the figures from January to March (when 1,011,000 young people were NEET), they are 3% higher than the same period from last year.
These statistics are framed against a highly competitive job market. Job vacancies have fallen to a 5-year-low while the deployment of AI to automate routine, low-risk tasks has squeezed entry-level opportunities for workers at the beginning of their careers. Youth unemployment amongst 16-to-24-year-olds stands at its highest level since 2014, including during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The desperate hunt to find work is "depressing" and "humiliating", say the graduates, students and young adults who spend hours each day applying for roles across various sectors, often with no response or feedback from employers. They point to a "Catch-22" whereby the roles they apply for often demand industry experience that they are unable to acquire. Unsurprisingly, graduates are increasingly questioning the worth of university degrees that saddle them with tens of thousands of pounds of debt before they have even begun their careers.
This July, recruiting website Adzuna reported that just 8,383 positions were advertised for graduates. This represents a 10-year low in graduate vacancies and a 45% fall in advertised positions over the course of the last year alone. This comes as a record 262,820 people prepare to go to university this month.
These challenges have been exacerbated by an uninspiring economic outlook and a reluctance on behalf of employers to hire younger, inexperienced workers given recent increases in the minimum wage and national insurance contributions.
Enticed by higher wages and better living standards, many young people are seeking employment opportunities outside of the UK, with High Fliers Research revealing that 10.2% of graduates now plan to leave the UK to find work. Recent data from the ONS shows that 246,000 British nationals left the UK last year, with 75% of those being under the age of 35.
Why should employers care?
Employers should view these figures with alarm. The participation of younger workers in the labour market is vital to the prospects of a stagnant UK economy, whose growth has been heavily curtailed by successive crises from Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic to the wars in Ukraine and Iran. Alan Milburn's interim report on youth unemployment has estimated that the cumulative annual cost to the UK economy of 1m people being out of employment, education or training is up to £125bn a year.
Anxieties about an economically inactive "lost generation" have been sharpened in part because of the UK's ageing population, with 19.5% of people now aged 65 or over. Health spending is projected to rise from 8% of GDP to 13% by 2075 as the proportion of older people increases, with the OBR saying that UK public finances are on an “unsustainable” path due to pressure on the state pension, population ageing and defence demands.
Labour's sweeping immigration reforms have also led to a reduction in the number of skilled overseas workers contributing to the UK economy, with Home Office data revealing that work visas have fallen by a fifth over the course of the past year.
Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has said he is on a 'mission' to support the NEETs. Initial statements suggest a focus on education; Burnham intends to place technical and vocational courses on an equal footing with academic ones, with new pathways offering 14-year-olds early access to technical education, skills training, work experience and connections with local employers. But beyond education, there will be a push to open up employment opportunities.
What employers can do to help
The Millburn Report, due in full next month, is likely to include calls for employers to help stem the rising number of NEETs. Early indications suggest that the government will try to entice, rather than enforce employers into compliance; Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, has announced that 90,000 fully funded jobs for 18- to 24-year-olds will be created by 2029. This comes as part of the government's £2.5bn drive to tackle the crisis, which includes financial incentives for employers taking on younger workers: a £3,000 grant for hiring an 18- to 24-year-old who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for six months, and from October small and medium-sized firms will receive £2,000 for taking on an apprentice aged 16 to 24.
UK employers are also taking the initiative. Sainsbury's has launched a major "Modern Work Experience Programme", which begins in October. The initiative will offer 10,000 work experience and skills opportunities to young people over the next year. In a poll of 1,001 UK senior business leaders, 59% said that they are offering placements, apprenticeships, internships or work experience, with the same proportion providing feedback to unsuccessful young applicants.
Employers who are not able to offer work experience placements can help entry level applicants by reconsidering job application processes, particularly those driven by AI which can be difficult to navigate and provide no feedback to unsuccessful applicants, leading to demoralisation and hopelessness. When new junior recruits enter the workforce, HR teams should ensure a structured induction with clear expectations, alongside sufficient mentoring and support in place to help the recruitment succeed. Employers should make clear that they offer these supportive practices when advertising jobs, to encourage applicants. Employers should also ensure that health is not a barrier to entering the workforce by making appropriate arrangements and workplace adjustments where necessary. With the changes to the qualifying period for unfair dismissal reduced from two years to six months in January 2027, it is commercial sense for the employer to ensure support and performance management are in place from the outset.
The new academic year begins this week, the prime minister must put reduction of NEETs at the top of his timetable.
Published 2/9/26