The government has launched an ambitious new plan to tackle youth unemployment, promising to create 200,000 jobs for young people while overhauling the apprenticeship system.
The move comes at a critical time. Apprenticeship starts among young people have fallen by 40% over the past decade, and nearly one million young people are currently not in work, education, or training.
At the heart of the plan is a new Youth Jobs Grant, designed to encourage businesses to take on young workers. Employers will receive £3,000 for every 18–24-year-old they hire who has been on Universal Credit and searching for work for at least six months.
The government is also widening its Jobs Guarantee scheme, extending eligibility from ages 18–21 to 18–24. This expansion is expected to create more than 35,000 additional subsidised jobs.
For smaller businesses, there’s further support: an Apprenticeship Incentive offering £2,000 for each new employee aged 16–24 hired by an SME.
Lizzie Crowley, Skills Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), welcomed the initiative but urged caution:
“We welcome the Government’s focus on tackling youth unemployment and supporting more young people into work, particularly through new incentives to help employers create entry-level jobs and apprenticeships.
Many of these measures reflect changes we have been calling for, including stronger support for employers to create high-quality opportunities and more flexible routes into work for young people.
With the number of young people not in education, employment, or training rising significantly in recent years, rebuilding clear pathways into work must be a priority.
However, different incentive schemes have been tried in the past with varying degrees of success. It is important that meaningful jobs are created which also support skills development, and that the process for claiming the incentives is simple and clearly communicated.”
While the scale of the plan is significant, its success will ultimately depend on whether it delivers not just more jobs—but better ones, with real opportunities for young people to build lasting careers.
