UK retailers plan 100,000 placements for young people

Published: 08 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

More than 40 major retailers across the UK are preparing to offer up to 100,000 short-term work placements to young people who are not currently in employment, education or training, in an effort to help them gain experience and move towards paid work.

The initiative, developed in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, is aimed at people aged between 18 and 24 who are outside the labour market and may face significant barriers when trying to secure their first job. Participating companies include Marks & Spencer, Pets at Home, Asda, the John Lewis Partnership, Tesco, New Look, Wickes, Currys and Greggs.

The placements are expected to last between two and four weeks, providing participants with an opportunity to experience a working environment while developing practical skills and greater confidence. The programme is intended to address one of the most persistent problems facing young people trying to enter the labour market: employers often seek previous experience, while those searching for their first job struggle to obtain it.

The scheme, known as Opening Shift, is expected to create opportunities over the next three years. More than 11,000 placements have already been pledged by retailers, according to the programme’s organisers.

The initiative comes amid growing concern about the number of young people classified as not in employment, education or training, commonly referred to as Neets. The scale of the problem has raised fears that a prolonged period away from work could make it increasingly difficult for some young people to establish stable careers.

Former health secretary Alan Milburn, who is leading a review into youth worklessness in Britain, has warned that the number of Neets could rise significantly in the coming years without stronger intervention. He has highlighted the particular difficulties faced by young people who have never held a job.

Milburn has argued that the lack of employment experience can create a cycle in which young people are unable to secure work because they have no experience, while being unable to gain experience because they cannot secure employment.

The retail programme is intended to break that cycle by giving participants an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in a real workplace. For some young people, even a short placement could provide an important first reference, a clearer understanding of workplace expectations and greater confidence when applying for permanent positions.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said opportunities of this kind could have a meaningful impact on young people who are struggling to find a way into employment. He said placements could help participants develop skills, confidence and professional connections that could support their transition into work.

The programme follows the appointment earlier this year of Marc Bolland, the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer, to lead a taskforce focused on Britain’s youth unemployment crisis. Bolland has worked with retailers to secure support for the placement programme amid concerns that the country could face a generation of young people disconnected from the labour market.

Bolland previously led Marks & Spencer between 2010 and 2016 and has experience of employment initiatives through his involvement with Movement to Work, a charity that has helped large numbers of unemployed young people gain workplace experience and move into employment.

He said his previous work had shown him what could be achieved when businesses and government cooperate to create opportunities for young people. The new programme, he said, would expand that approach by creating thousands of additional openings in one of Britain’s largest employment sectors.

A key feature of the scheme is that participants will continue receiving Universal Credit while completing their placements. Organisers believe this will remove an important practical barrier for benefit claimants who might otherwise have to leave the welfare system for a very short period before attempting to re-enter it after the placement ends.

The placements will generally involve between 16 and 35 hours of work each week. Participants will also be guaranteed an interview at the end of their placement, giving them an opportunity to discuss what they have learned and potentially move into paid employment if suitable vacancies are available.

Retailers will also provide participants with a workplace “buddy” who can offer support as they become familiar with their new environment. The arrangement is designed to ensure that young people who may have limited previous experience do not have to navigate the workplace entirely on their own.

The Department for Work and Pensions will use jobcentres to help identify young people who could benefit from the scheme and provide access to available placements. This is expected to connect the programme with people already seeking employment assistance through the welfare system.

For participating retailers, the initiative offers an opportunity to contribute to tackling youth unemployment while potentially developing a future pool of workers. The retail industry employs people in communities across the country and has traditionally provided entry-level opportunities for people starting their careers.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said the industry’s size and national reach meant retailers were particularly well positioned to contribute to the effort to reduce the number of young people outside employment, education or training.

She stressed that work experience should be viewed as an important first step, while arguing that businesses also needed the right economic conditions to create more entry-level jobs.

The distinction is important because short-term placements alone cannot solve the wider problem of youth unemployment. Young people may gain valuable experience from a placement, but their long-term prospects will ultimately depend on whether employers have enough permanent positions available.

The programme therefore forms part of a broader discussion about how Britain can help young people enter a changing labour market. Economic uncertainty, changes in technology and evolving employer expectations have made the transition from education to work more complicated for some young people.

Those without previous employment experience can face particular difficulties. Employers may prioritise candidates who can demonstrate workplace skills, reliability and familiarity with professional environments. A structured placement can provide young people with an opportunity to demonstrate those qualities without requiring them to have already secured a permanent job.

For young people themselves, the value of such placements may extend beyond the immediate prospect of employment. Experience can help them understand what type of work suits them, develop relationships with colleagues and managers, and identify skills they need to strengthen.

The initiative also comes at a time when policymakers are increasingly concerned about the long-term consequences of youth worklessness. Extended periods outside employment can affect income, confidence and career development, potentially making it harder for individuals to catch up with peers who entered the labour market earlier.

The government’s partnership with major retailers reflects an attempt to address the problem through cooperation between the public and private sectors. Rather than relying solely on government employment programmes, the scheme brings employers directly into efforts to help young people gain workplace experience.

However, its eventual success will depend on how many placements translate into sustainable employment. The guarantee of an interview provides an important bridge between temporary experience and potential work, but it does not guarantee that every participant will receive a job.

The programme’s organisers nevertheless believe that giving young people a chance to enter a workplace can make a substantial difference. For someone who has never had a job, a few weeks of structured experience may help replace uncertainty with practical knowledge and give employers evidence of their potential.

With up to 100,000 placements planned over three years, the retail sector is positioning itself as a significant part of the UK’s response to youth unemployment. The scale of the commitment means thousands of young people could gain their first meaningful exposure to the workplace.

The wider challenge will be ensuring that those opportunities lead somewhere. Britain needs not only placements but also sufficient permanent entry-level jobs, effective training and sustained support for young people who remain outside employment.

For many of those currently struggling to get onto the first rung of the career ladder, however, the opportunity to gain experience could provide an important starting point. The Opening Shift programme is ultimately built around a straightforward idea: giving young people a chance to work may be one of the most effective ways of helping them become ready for lasting employment.