Preparing young people for the world of work is key to long-term productivity and competitiveness. As well as being critical for the UK’s economic future, recruiting and developing young people benefits organisations now, through improving workforce diversity, bringing in new ideas and skills, and helping to build talent pipelines.

Member tool: CIPD Buddy BETA
Experiment with AI to find answers on this topic with our prototype. Login to explore CIPD Buddy

Supporting young people to find jobs and fulfilling careers is a collective responsibility, requiring action from a range of organisations, from policy-makers and educators to businesses themselves.

This report, based on a survey of over 2,000 people aged 18–30:

  • provides an insight into the needs of young people, both in education and as they start out in their careers
  • shows employers how to help young people understand their employment options, how to obtain the skills they need to enter the workplace and how to provide advice to ensure career aspirations are met.

Download the report below

Youth employment in the UK 2021

Download the report
PDF document 696.4 KB

For analysis of the experiences and expectations of young Scots (based on the Scottish sub-sample of the same data), download the supplement below.

Youth employment in the UK – Scotland supplement

Download the supplement
PDF document 460.6 KB

Key findings of the UK report

  • The qualifications young people held are seen as more necessary to get jobs, than do jobs.
  • Over half of those who attended university would have considered an apprenticeship as an alternative route, but only 1% said they received help at school to apply for one.
  • Only a fifth of young people rated the careers guidance given at school or college as high quality and said that not enough time was spent helping them understand career pathways or options.
  • Only half of young people surveyed received a face-to-face careers guidance interview at school.
  • Whilst most young people took part in work experience at school or college, over a quarter rated it as low quality.
  • Paid work during education is seen as beneficial for developing employability skills.
  • Only just over half of people surveyed are satisfied with their main job, with the lowest rates of satisfaction being in wholesale and retail and the highest being in education and healthcare.
  • Those that said their career progression had failed to meet their expectations reported poor quality line management and lack of effective training programmes as the main factors holding them back.
  • Over two-fifths of young people believe the pandemic has harmed their long-term career prospects.

Key recommendations

The CIPD calls for:

  • The UK Government to increase funding for careers advice, so that every young person is guaranteed at least one face-to-face interview with a qualified career guidance professional by the age of 16.
  • Careers advice in schools and colleges to give equal focus to vocational and academic routes into employment.
  • Employers to collaborate with local schools and colleges to ensure young people understand and are equipped with the skills that businesses need, so they are ready to join the workforce when they leave education.

More on this topic

Data

Data hub

Explore the evidence behind workforce trends

Data

Recruitment and redundancy outlook

Stay up to date with the latest recruitment and redundancy trends in the UK.

Data

Pay intentions

Stay up to date with the latest pay intentions among employers in the UK.

Two people having a conversation in an office setting
Data

Hard-to-fill vacancies

Stay up to date with the latest vacancy data from employers in the UK.

Reports

More reports

a mix of men and women at a construction site, wearing hard hats and high vis, gather round a woman talking and pointing to a clipboard
Report

Analysis of the public sector workforce

Research in this report suggests that improving leadership and people management can help raise the motivation and productivity of the public sector workforce

Report

Health and wellbeing at work

The CIPD’s biennial report exploring health, wellbeing and absence management provides invaluable trend analysis and practice insight to help employers and people professionals develop and maintain supportive, productive workplaces

Report

Labour Market Outlook

Read our latest Labour Market Outlook report for analysis on employers’ recruitment, redundancy and pay intentions

Report

Lifelong learning in the reskilling era: From luxury to necessity

Population ageing, generative AI and the green transition are reshaping job markets and skills needs, creating risks and opportunities that require policy action to support lifelong learning and career development

All Reports