#Chances4Children: Charity launches bid to create one million employment opportunities for young people

The One Million Chances scheme, launched by CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, aims to encourage businesses and organisations to employ 16- to 30-year-olds through schemes including Kickstart, apprenticeships and T-levels.

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Work experience and internships should also be offered, the charity has said.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show there were 166,000 fewer young people, aged 16 to 24, in the UK in employment in June 2021 compared with March 2020.

The campaign comes as research by the charity shows that 43 per cent of young people feel the pandemic has harmed their long-term career prospects.

A poll of 2,064 people, aged 18 to 30, finds that 50 per cent of young people who are currently not in work have been so for 12 months - half of these people are not confident about finding any work in the next three months.

The CIPD also offers jobseekers, aged 18 to 24, help with CV writing, job searching and interview technique through its Steps Ahead Mentoring programme.

Lizzie Crowley, senior skills adviser at the CIPD, said: “While Brexit and much talk of staff shortages in recent months may give the impression that it should be easy for young people to walk into a job, they are still often left at the back of the queue because employers tend to favour experienced workers. 

“We want to help young people get their career off to a flying start as unemployment at a young age can leave permanent scarring - and means they’re more likely to earn less over the course of their working lives and experience more spells of unemployment. 

“More employers also need to take a chance on young people - and be prepared to train them up - given our labour supply is changing and staff shortages are becoming more prevalent. We also don’t want them to miss out on the creativity, ingenuity and energy young people can bring to an organisation.”

Employers can pledge their support for the campaign by using #1mChances and find out more by visiting: www.cipd.co.uk/onemillionchances