‘I know someone in a warehouse with a master’s degree’: how to break the cycle of youth unemployment

There is a quietly brewing crisis in youth unemployment in the UK. Photograph: Philip Toscano/PA

At a packed east London jobs fair, Habib Mudh hid is looking for an employer to give him a break. Having spent his early 20s navigating failed job applications, courses and bit-part employment, Mudh hid is among a growing post-pandemic generation of young adults out of work.

“All that process, then nothing, and you feel like you have hope. But then nothing,” says the 24-year-old, who has come to the event for young adults at the Hackney jobcentre. “Hopefully I can get a foothold today.”