After leaving college in May 2025, 19-year-old Joseph Ingle expected job hunting to take a little while. But more than a year later, he’s still no closer to finding a permanent position in his hometown of Norwich. “It’s difficult because there are lots of people my age struggling to find work,” he says. “After so many applications without a response it does have an effect on me. It feels like nobody wants to take a chance on me. A lot of jobs say you need experience but I can’t seem to get anything to give me experience. I know if I was given a shot, I could do a good job.”
There are now an estimated 1 million 16- to 24-year-olds – or one in eight – not in education, employment or training (Neet) in the UK. Economic uncertainty, Brexit, the pandemic and the pace of digital transformation have all reshaped the job market. The Open University’s annual Business Barometer, which has charted the UK skills landscape since 2017, found that 76% of employers say economic uncertainty has made recruitment or training more difficult in the past 12 months, and 43% have hired fewer staff. Meanwhile, 57% of employers agree that there’s a skills shortage in their organisation, and 42% believe it will get worse over the next five years.
“The 2026 report revealed a labour market where opportunities are evolving but access to them, particularly for young people is not keeping up,” says Prof Mark Durkin, pro vice-chancellor, partnerships and enterprise, at the Open University. He points to the fact that only a third of employers have a specific recruitment, retention or training initiative for young people, and only 11% have one for Neets. “Some employers have become more focused on ‘work-ready’ talent. There’s a tendency to prioritise candidates who can contribute immediately, rather than investing in developing potential.”
In London, 23-year-old Freddie Ajani finished his studies in 2025 – he’s now making pizzas in a pub part-time, after his wider job search proved frustrating. Like Ingles, more often than not, he doesn’t even receive a reply to his application. “It would be nice to feel like going for a professional job isn’t a long shot,” he says. “The lack of response is very demoralising. It makes you feel like you’re not capable, and that you’ll always just be stuck doing menial jobs.”
He’s noticed the impact of AI on the recruitment process. “A lot of applications have felt like a waste of time. I think most of the jobs I’ve applied for have used AI to check my CV. It feels like if you don’t have the keywords, then you don’t have a chance. There’s no way to get your personality across.”
The Business Barometer also highlighted AI’s impact on the job market, although fewer than one in five employers say AI has decreased their recruitment in early career roles. Still, 51% say AI is impacting recruitment or hiring processes, rising to 59% in larger organisations. Among Neets, 42% agree that AI is threatening their job prospects.
It’s a similar story all over the country. Evie James has just had to move back in with her parents in Leeds after a year of applying for “hundreds” of jobs without success. “I didn’t expect it to be this hard,” the 22-year-old says about job hunting. “It feels quite hopeless and overwhelming. I’ve spent days applying for different jobs and heard next to nothing back. It’s emotionally draining and physically exhausting.”
James has noticed the impact AI has had on her job search too. “My friends said I had to use AI because it was the only way they were getting any responses. I tried it and it completely changed the language of my CV. I did get a couple of interviews after that … but I still think it would be better if employers could sift through CVs manually.”
RDT Insurance Software Solutions in West Malling, Kent, has a firm policy of never using AI to screen CVs, even though it’s in widespread use in other areas of the organisation. The insurance tech company has 100 employees and an apprenticeship programme where it recruits four to five trainee software engineers every year.
“We haven’t hired an experienced software engineer for the past four years,” says Fiona Mason, RDT’s chief human resources officer. “I’m super proud of that. What we’re looking for when hiring young people isn’t necessarily honed technical skills and knowledge – it’s interest in what we’re doing, the ability to work in a team, and being good at problem-solving. We can teach them everything else.”
The apprenticeship programme is run in collaboration with the Open University. Apprentices work towards a part-time degree in software engineering, spending one day a week studying. Mason says the retention rate at the company after apprentices have graduated is about 86%.
In fact, RDT’s very first apprentice from 2017 is now its head of software engineering. The company also commits to taking 20 work experience students every year, in partnership with local schools.
“It’s transformed the organisational culture,” she says about recruiting young people. “They’re full of energy, full of ideas, and have a real appetite to learn. We build up their confidence and knowledge and very quickly they start to be the people that mentor next year’s people, or go out to talk to our partner schools.” She estimates the company has saved about £80,000 by building its own talent pipeline, rather than using recruitment agencies to fill vacancies.
Durkin highlights that this expanse of young talent could be the solution to the UK’s prevailing skills crisis, but employers need to play their part. The Open University works with more than 2,700 organisations to design and deliver training that meets business needs, and provides free learning opportunities for candidates via OpenLearn. “What’s encouraging is that 80% of employers say they are willing to train young people … but there’s a gap between intent and action,” he says. “The most effective solutions are those that bring employers and educators together to create clear pathways into work.
“If we get this right, we will have a much more inclusive and dynamic labour market. Young people will have clearer, more accessible pathways into work, and employers will take a more active role in developing future talent.”
Mason’s advice to employers is to try it. “Just get one person in and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work, learn from that and try it again. We all have an obligation to these young people. But commercially, this builds your talent in a much cheaper way. You might not get it right every time – but that’s like any hire at any level.”
Read the full report and find out more about how the Open University is helping build a pipeline of future talent
