Hospitality firms commit to 100,000 jobs for young people not in work or education
Britain's biggest hospitality businesses, including Whitbread, McDonald's and Nando's, will target 100,000 paid jobs over three years for young people who are not in education, employment or training, in a partnership with UKHospitality announced by the Government on Thursday.
Britain's leading hospitality businesses have committed to 100,000 paid jobs for young people who are not in education, employment or training, under a partnership with the trade body UKHospitality announced by the Government on Thursday. The jobs will be targeted over three years at young people aged 18 to 24, and are intended to give them skills, confidence and experience.
The businesses signed up include Whitbread, McDonald's, Nando's, Marriott, Compass, Burger King, Parkdean Resorts, Haven, Fuller's, Merlin Entertainments, Stonegate Group, Mitchells & Butlers, Wagamama, Sodexo, WSH Limited and De Vere. The Government said hospitality is one of the biggest employers of young people in the economy.
Alongside paid jobs, the partnership will provide work experience and training opportunities. Trade coverage of the announcement reported that recruits will start with placements lasting up to four weeks, designed to build the practical skills and confidence they need to enter the workplace.
Hospitality has long provided young people with a route into the world of workPat McFadden, Work and Pensions Secretary
The Work and Pensions Secretary, Pat McFadden, said hospitality had long provided young people with a route into the world of work, and that the industry was helping unemployed young people get their first step on the ladder and build their careers. Allen Simpson, the chief executive of UKHospitality, said hospitality is the number one employer of young people in the economy, providing valuable and rewarding routes into work.
The announcement builds on a similar commitment announced last month in retail, of 100,000 jobs developed with the support of Marc Bolland, the former chief executive of Marks & Spencer, who has been convening employers to help the million young people not in education, work or training.
It also follows an interim review by Alan Milburn into the root causes of youth inactivity, which the Government said is affecting almost one million young people. Nearly six in ten young people who are not in education, employment or training have never had a job, the Government said.
The wider package includes the Government's 450 million pound Youth Matters programme, which will create and improve youth spaces, increase access to youth workers and deliver more face-to-face activities, backed by a commitment to recruit 1,000 new youth workers from spring 2027. Through an additional 2.5 billion pounds of investment in the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy, the Government said it will support almost one million young people and create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.
On the education side, the Education Secretary, Lucy Powell, is expected to announce a call for evidence on school exclusion reforms, aimed at stopping more children falling out of education. The Government said pupils who are persistently absent from school, missing 10 per cent of the time or more, are 3.9 times more likely to end up not in education, employment or training.
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