Some Gen Z have been desperately trying to break into the job market, sending out thousands of applications, standing on Wall Street with a sign begging for a job, and waitressing at industry conferences to stealthily hand out their resumes. There’s also a growing camp of disillusioned young adults who have completely checked out of education, employment, and training: NEETs. Now, one country is trying to tackle the youth unemployment crisis with a nearly $1 billion plan.
TL;DR
- The U.K. government is investing nearly $1 billion to create apprenticeships and place 50,000 young people into jobs.
- The plan includes a trial program linking Gen Z individuals, especially NEETs, with local businesses.
- Apprenticeships will be fully funded for those under 25 at small and medium-sized companies.
- New programs in engineering, digital skills, and AI will be introduced starting April 2026.
Earlier this week, the U.K. Government announced a $965 million investment to create more apprenticeships and place 50,000 young people into roles.
Collaborating with local officials, the initiative, spanning three years, aims to furnish aspiring youths with the vocational instruction necessary for employment within their communities. A substantial sum of $186 million from the considerable budget is earmarked for a trial program where city leaders will link Generation Z individuals, particularly those not in education, employment, or training (NEETs), with businesses in their vicinity. Furthermore, to alleviate the financial strain on certain enterprises, the scheme will also fully fund apprenticeships for individuals under the age of 25 employed by small and medium-sized companies.
Young individuals in the U.K. Will find a greater number of apprenticeship opportunities available in sought-after sectors such as hospitality and retail. However, the government continues to monitor closely the the critical skills requirements of emerging professionals within the age of AI; innovative, brief educational programs focused on engineering, digital competencies, and artificial intelligence are also slated for introduction beginning in April 2026. This initiative to expand apprenticeships by the U.K. Is a key component of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s comprehensive strategy to ensure that two-thirds of young people are engaged in advanced education and apprenticeship programs, following a significant decline observed in 2017.
“For too long, success has been measured by how many young people go to university. That narrow view has held back opportunity and created barriers we need to break,” Starmer said. “It’s time to change the way apprenticeships are viewed and to put them on an equal footing with university.”
Young people from Generation Z are facing difficulties finding work in the United Kingdom and other nations.
The United Kingdom's extensive, multi-billion dollar initiative is a positive development, given the worldwide increase in joblessness among young people.
During the first half of last year, more than 16% or almost 460,000 of 18 to 24-year-old U.K. Men were NEETs—the highest rate in over a decade. On a global scale, about a fifth of people between ages 15 and 24 in 2023 were NEET-status. And for those actively on the job-hunt, options are scarce; In 2023 and 2024, more than 1.2 million applications were submitted for just under 17,000 open graduate roles in the U.K., according to the Institute of Student Employers (ISE).
This represented the greatest quantity of applications for each available position ever documented since the ISE began its data collection in 1991.
However, on the other side of the Atlantic, the outlook is similarly grim: Approximately 4.3 million young individuals not in education, employment, or training (NEETs) were recorded in 2022 in the United States. Furthermore, by September of this year, the proportion of men aged 20 to 24 and women in the same age bracket who were unemployed stood at 9.4% and 9%, respectively. This figure is more than double the overall unemployment rate of 4.4%, as indicated by an analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics FRED analysis.
Furthermore, American authorities warn the situation might deteriorate further. U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) Warned that joblessness predicts that unemployment among recent college graduates could surge to approximately 25% within the coming two to three years, largely due to AI.
Mirroring the U.K. Administration, Warner proposed a initiative for workforce re-skilling—and this concern transcends political affiliations. Collaborating with Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), they introduced a bill legislation mandating that companies and federal bodies disclose any AI-induced employment disruptions to the Department of Labor, with findings made accessible to everyone.
