M&S launches new traineeship for 1,000 young people

Marks and Spencer is launching a new training scheme for young people trying to get on the career ladder in a bid to tackle the "growing youth unemployment challenge".

Aimed at 16 to 24-year olds, it will create 1,000 training places in the UK and Ireland over the next 18 months.

M&S said the paid scheme was intended to help tackle the rising number of young people not in employment, education or training, or Neets as they are known.

The latest official figures show more than a million young people are Neets - the highest level in more than 12 years and equating to roughly one in eight young people.

Last month, a key review warned one in six would be Neet in five years if action was not taken.

The review found job and career opportunities for those hoping to enter employment were "not growing, they're shrinking". Its author, former minister Alan Milburn, warned of a potential "lost generation".

It said there was no one single factor causing the crisis, citing the Covid-19 pandemic, smartphones, health issues and the current jobs market, which has seen a sharp drop in the number of entry-level positions.

High Street retailers and hospitality businesses such as restaurants, cafes and pubs often offer the first experience of work for many.

M&S said its new scheme would provide six months of training, with successful participants then receiving further training to become a store manager.

People do not need a degree to be eligible.

Retail director Thinus Keeve said: "We want more young people to see retail not just as a first job, but as a career with real opportunity, real responsibility and real progression...

"This programme is about opening doors for the next generation and giving talented young people the chance to thrive."

Over the weekend, the government announced a partnership with industry and trade unions examining how artificial intelligence (AI) affects entry-level roles.

It will look at how entry-level jobs are changing and give businesses advice on how to redesign roles while maintaining routes into the workforce.

The government said 400,000 students in disadvantaged schools in the UK would get AI and tech training to help them into further education, training and employment.

Darren Hardman, chief executive for Microsoft in the UK and Ireland told the BBC's Today programme that the government needed to focus on building the "AI fluency of their people".

Hardman said there was a risk of leaving people behind if the UK did not prioritise speeding up its pace in the AI tech race.

"The risk that, if we don't drive a skilling agenda... that really thinks about social mobility, then we do risk leaving people behind.

"We know that talent is everywhere in this country, but opportunity is not," he said, adding that the UK's performance in taking up and "diffusing" tech was only "OK".

Last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that young people who had been out of a job or education for 18 months would be offered a guaranteed paid work placement, to help them prepare for a full-time job.

On Monday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will vow to make tech work "for everyone, not just the privileged few", as the government launches a trial of an AI assistant for jobseekers.

The government hopes it will be a "jobcentre in your pocket", providing people with 24-7 guidance on career development and job applications.

Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.