The warning has emerged in a Prince’s Trust survey of 16- to 25-year-olds into the impact of the health crisis on their self-esteem and confidence in accessing a career and training.
Just under half (48 per cent) of young people with a history of disrupted employment are also concerned about moving on with their lives post pandemic.
Among the 2,000 young people who responded, less than a quarter say they feel confident in their future career while a similar proportion believe they have the confidence “to go after the job they want”.
Our research with @censuswide has found a crisis in confidence among young people in the UK, it shows the pandemic has impacted self-esteem and confidence in their future career and skills for work❗ pic.twitter.com/52WtpUmjxF
— PrincesTrust (@PrincesTrust) November 24, 2021
Prince’s Trust UK chief executive Jonathan Townsend called for more support for young people to help them recover their confidence following the pandemic.
“Young people have faced significant disruption to their employment and education, at a time when our economy and jobs market is in flux,” he said.
“As we look forward into 2022, there is still a huge amount to do to restore young people’s confidence and rebuild the skills they need for the jobs available now, and the jobs of the future.”
Lack of skills and training is cited as a concern by around a quarter of those asked.
Loss of confidence is also a concern among young people with training. Some 44 per cent say they have lost confidence in the job they are trained to do over the course of the pandemic.
Chris Holland, a young person supported by the Prince’s Trust to find work at his local hospital highlighted the importance of support to building young people’s confidence to access employment.
“It was hard to find work in the pandemic,” he said.
“I briefly worked in retail over Christmas, but that was all. Confidence isn’t something you always have, it’s something you can gain and lose.
“Training and getting my job at the hospital has helped me come out of my shell and feel more positive about my future."
