Time for action on young people not in work
For too long, the challenge of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) has been one of the defining economic challenges facing our region as well as the wider UK.
The interim findings of Alan Milburn's important Young People and Work report – published on 28 May – should prompt a fundamental shift in thinking.
Employers across the North East continue to tell us about skills shortages, recruitment difficulties and concerns about future workforce pipelines. The fact thousands of young people remain disconnected from opportunity represents an economic contradiction.
The North East has made significant progress over recent decades. We have world-class universities, growing sectors, major inward investment successes, solid plans for economic growth from local and regional government and, of course, our passionate people.
Yet too many young people in the North East still struggle to make the transition from education into meaningful employment. For many, the first rung of the ladder remains out of reach.
Milburn's review rightly highlights the growing experience gap facing young people. Entry-level roles have become harder to access – AI is accelerating this. Employers increasingly seek previous experience – the infamous Catch-22. Many young people lack the networks, connections and opportunities available to those already in employment.
Every young person left on the sidelines represents talent untapped, productivity unrealised and aspiration diminished.
What is encouraging, is the growing consensus around the need for action. This should not be a partisan issue. Across political parties, employers, education providers and civic leaders there is broad agreement that wasting young talent is neither economically sensible nor socially acceptable.
We now have to move from diagnosis to action.
That means strengthening pathways into work, expanding high-quality work experience opportunities, supporting apprenticeships and technical routes, improving careers guidance and ensuring employers are at the heart of the solution. It also means recognising that good jobs and inclusive growth must go hand in hand.
If we are serious about raising productivity, increasing employment and creating a stronger economy in the Nort East and the UK as a whole, we must be even more serious about ensuring every young person has a route into a quality job and a fulfilling career.
Former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson said: “The Labour Party is a moral crusade, or it is nothing”. Perhaps today's Labour government should be a crusade against NEETS, or it is nothing.
