Leadership

Helping Ambitious Talent To Take Flight

65% of young people say there’s not enough support available to help young people get into work, with 70% saying the Government should do more to help young people find a job and build their skills.

This report by UK Youth and KFC of over 4,000 16–25-year-olds across the UK and 500 businesses found that growing economic uncertainty and inequality of opportunity is holding many young people back from finding employment.

61% of young people say it is increasingly hard to land a job without a connection or a ‘way in’, whilst more than 2 in 5 (42%) say their dream job isn’t achievable because of their background.

Despite 95% of employers saying that their job application process judges all applicants equally, 1 in 3 (32%) acknowledge that it is hard for candidates to land a job without a connection with more than half (55%) surveyed saying they are more likely to hire someone recommended by a colleague, friend, or a family member.

Whilst employers recognise skills as the most important factor for a prospective candidate to demonstrate, the study found that a young person’s background, accent and even appearance play a significant role in whether they land the job.

A quarter (24%) of employers say they would be more likely to hire a candidate if they attended the same university as them, with this figure rising to 34% if a candidate shared a “similar background”.

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