Unlocking Opportunities: How Employers Can Break Down Barriers for Young People

Young people are the future of our workforce, but too many face barriers that prevent them from getting a foot in the door. With nearly a million young people not in education, employment, or training (NEET), it’s clear that we need a bold and coordinated approach to tackle youth unemployment and unlock potential across the UK.

The Government has taken an important step with the launch of the Youth Guarantee, outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper. This initiative promises every young person aged 18 to 21 access to work, training, or education, starting with eight “trailblazer” areas. But for the Youth Guarantee to make a meaningful impact, employer involvement is critical.

At the CIPD, we were pleased to contribute evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Youth Employment at the launch of its latest inquiry, focusing on how to increase employer engagement in the Youth Guarantee and reduce barriers to youth recruitment. So, what are those barriers, and how can employers help break them down?

Barriers to Recruiting Young People

Employers play a vital role in providing young people with meaningful, early career opportunities. However, both demand and supply challenges continue to limit access.

Lack of Experience vs. Potential

One of the most cited barriers is a lack of work experience. Many employers still prioritise previous job experience when hiring, despite clear evidence that past experience is a poor predictor of future job performance. The requirement for “X years of experience” immediately disadvantages young applicants who have yet to enter the workforce but may have the right skills, motivation, and potential to succeed.

As well as a lack of work experience, many employers also report that young people lack critical skills, such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. Yet even when young people possess these essential transferable skills, they often struggle to articulate and prove these skills in applications or interviews. This issue has been compounded by a long-term decline in “earning and learning” opportunities. Decades ago, many young people gained valuable skills and experience through part-time jobs while studying. Today, fewer young people have these early work experiences, making it harder to develop the workplace skills that employers increasingly value.

Overreliance on Qualifications

Despite a widely documented shift towards skills-based hiring, many employers still require specific qualifications as primary selection criteria. For example, the CIPD’s previous survey of over 2,000 senior decision-makers found that most employers still filter applications based on qualifications, with only 24% stating that they don’t. While some roles, such as those in healthcare, require qualifications for occupational competency, in many cases qualifications are simply used as an easy way to sift through large numbers of applicants. This disproportionately disadvantages young candidates who may have relevant skills and experience but lack formal certifications.

Even when organisations want to recruit young talent, their internal strategies may create unintended barriers

Many employers rely on traditional recruitment channels, such as LinkedIn, online job boards, or national newspapers. However, these platforms are not always accessible to disadvantaged young people, who may not have professional networks or guidance on where to look for job opportunities. Many young people also lack the confidence to apply for roles or struggle with job search strategies. Without clear guidance on what employers are looking for, they may under-sell their skills or fail to navigate complex application processes.

Additionally, not providing adequate training for interviewers and the use of unstructured interviews may leave more room for unconscious bias to creep in. Where hiring decisions rely on human judgment alone, there’s a higher risk that candidates from certain backgrounds, whether based on age, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, may face unintentional discrimination.

What’s Working? Inclusive Practices That Open Doors

To tackle some of these challenges, we need to focus on increasing employer awareness of the benefits of inclusive recruitment practices. Encouragingly, many employers are already rethinking how they hire and support young people. Our research highlights several promising approaches.

These include using:

1. Targeted recruitment methods – Using channels that young people already engage with, including informal networks and partnering with community organisations.
2. Replacing unstructured interviews with clear strengths-based or knowledge-based questions that all candidates can answer.
3. Adopting fairer selection methods – Using tools like Situational Judgement Tests and work samples, which provide better indicators of job performance than years of experience.

There is also a need for additional support to help young people navigate the complex recruitment process and translate their skills, knowledge, and experience into the language of employers. We know that direct support to do this makes a difference.

The CIPD’s Steps Ahead Mentoring Programme, which ran from 2012 to 2023, paired young people with experienced HR professionals. The results were clear, six in ten participants said it helped them secure employment. It’s a model that shows the added value of personal guidance and confidence-building.

What Support Do Employers Need?

Breaking down barriers isn’t just about changing candidate expectations, it’s also about supporting employers to be part of the solution, through:

• Clearer Pathways and Local Coordination. Many businesses are unaware of the youth employment schemes and support available to them. Creating local intermediaries that link employers with training providers, business services, and schools and colleges could streamline engagement and provide much-needed clarity.
• Practical HR and Recruitment Support. Especially for SMEs, capacity is a challenge. Our HR pilot programme found that small firms often lack the basics, like compliant contracts or consistent hiring practices, making it harder to participate in youth-focused schemes or apprenticeships. Local areas should consider integrating business and people management support into their Youth Guarantee delivery plans to unlock opportunities in the SME sector.
• Building the Business Case. Employers need to see how engaging with the Youth Guarantee can support their long-term skills pipeline. But they’re also operating under real short-term pressures. Supporting strategic workforce planning, while offering flexible, practical tools, can help make the case.
• Financial Incentives and Wage Subsidies. Offering wage subsidies can further encourage employers to hire young workers. Evidence from past initiatives suggests that financial incentives help increase recruitment while supporting long-term job retention. Targeted subsidies for SMEs that create entry-level roles could be particularly effective in areas with high youth unemployment and inactivity.

Of course, this is a two-way street. Young people also need to be equipped to succeed in the workplace. Enhanced pre-employment support, such as mentoring, interview coaching, and sector-specific training, can boost confidence and readiness. Working with employers to tailor this support ensures it’s aligned with real-world expectations.

If we want to build a future workforce that’s diverse, skilled, and resilient, we must remove the unnecessary barriers that prevent young people from entering and thriving in the labour market.
The Youth Guarantee is a step in the right direction, but its success hinges on meaningful employer engagement, stronger support for SMEs, and a willingness from Government and local areas to scale what works. By adopting inclusive recruitment practices and offering targeted support, employers can unlock opportunity, not just for young people, but for their own organisations and the economy as a whole.

By Lizzie Crowley, Senior Skills Adviser at the CIPD