Top Organisations Recognised for Outstanding Youth Employment Practices

Youth Employment UK held its annual symposium and awards event on the 3rd of December, announcing five stand-out winners from the various employers that completed the 2024 Good Youth Employment Benchmark.

Being the first of its kind, the digital Benchmark tool from Youth Employment UK requires employers to complete hundreds of probing questions that highlight their efforts across three categories that are integral to supporting young people into and in employment: Explore, Experience and Employment.

Answers are then collated against a rating system designed to help employers determine where they are excelling and where tangible improvements could be made to support young people on their employment journey.

Measuring the impact of youth employment strategies has always been notoriously difficult, but this data is crucial so that employers can continue to invest time and money into these areas. Without clear evidence of what is working and what could be improved, employers are left wondering how to spend budgets that are often already restricted and tight.

As the number of people young people aged 16 – 24 not in education, employment or training continues to sore, it’s imperative that employers can access the tools that guide them towards data-driven decisions that can be monitored year after year for continuous improvement.

The Victorious Five

Haven, Severn Trent, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Careers in Racing and Coach Core were all crowned winners at the symposium and awards event, each earning their accolade for excelling in different areas.

The Explore Award: Haven

Data gathered in this year’s Youth Voice Census highlights the worrying percentage that only 36% of young people in secondary school feel they understand the skills that employers are looking for. As evidenced in the Benchmark, Haven has shown an unwavering commitment to supporting young people to grow employability skills. It is clear that they seek to leave the local community better off, designing programmes that will benefit young people whether they have ambitions of working in their sector or not. 

The Experience Award: Careers in Racing

Careers in Racing was crowned winner of the Experience award, a testament to their dedication to offering workplace visits, taster days, job shadowing and long and short work experience programmes.

We know from the most recent Youth Voice Census that only 36% of young people had access to work experience in secondary school. While this statistic is an improvement in 2023, more is needed to build the confidence of young people at these crucial stages to get them ready for employment.

Employment Award: Molson Coors Beverage Company

With more and more young people looking for opportunities to progress outside of going to university, it’s brilliant to see Molson Coors Beverage Company being rewarded for their dedication to offering apprenticeships, entry-level and graduate roles.

Committed to supporting young people, Molson Coors Beverage Company goes the extra mile to review job descriptions and company literature to ensure it is accessible and written with the feedback they gather from young people in mind.

Corporate Employer of the Year: Severn Trent:

The Corporate Employer of the Year award is given to the corporate employer that has made great strides in developing and innovating their youth employment practices and activities embodying the Good Youth Employment Standards.

The judges noted that this award winner had engaged over 10,000 young people through their Explore activities which include careers talks, career events, support preparing for applications, employer-led mentoring and extracurricular activities.

SME of the Year: Coach Core

Coach Core were applauded for their work to support young people in all areas covered by the Benchmark tool.

They have made great efforts to engage underrepresented groups with a strong commitment to monitoring their activities internally to continuously improve engagement.

Coach Core has offered 1000 Explore opportunities in the last 12 months, including careers talks, careers events and supporting young people with job applications.

A Commitment to Employers and Young People

Youth Employment UK is a non-profit organisation supporting employers through membership to access invaluable resources and research to support their youth employment strategies.

With an unwavering commitment to young people, Youth Employment UK seeks to enhance employer practices, using data-driven insight while offering free online courses and resources to young people aged 11- 30.