Executive Director Anthony Short reflects on a partner solution to youth unemployment, that could be a real opportunity for the MI sector
You may recall a news story we ran a couple of months ago, where we joined with many other Trade Bodies and Retailers to sign an open letter to Government calling for support to make it easier for businesses to employ young people. This letter, coordinated by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), argued that it needed to be cheaper and simpler to offer entry points into Retail careers, and came as a result of a report by Alan Milburn entitled Young People and Work. The report painted a bleak picture, noting that over a million young people (16-24) were Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs) by early 2026.
The BRC have been working hard on a proactive campaign called Opening Shift to help tackle this problem, and I was pleased to be invited to the launch of this initiative in Parliament this week.
What struck me whilst listening to the opening remarks, was the impact that retail has had on my life, and indeed how many people have at some point in their lives worked in the retail sector. One of my first Saturday jobs was at Fosters Menswear, a job I continued whilst I was at University, and that ultimately led to me joining Sainsburys as a Graduate Trainee in Retail Management.
Equally many of us working in the MI sector cut our teeth in music stores, before moving sidewards into either the Manufacture or Distribution channel. The point being that those jobs were vital in the career development of so many of us.
Anyway, back to the BRC event and the launch of Opening Shift. What they have done is create a work experience programme in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), that can be delivered by members to young people. The highlights are as follows;
- Retailers will offer 2-4 week work experience placements to NEETs aged 18-24, helping them gain the skills and confidence needed to take their first step into work.
- Participants will continue to receive Universal Credit throughout their placement
- At the end of their placement, every participant will receive an interview, with the goal of moving as many as possible into a role within the company if one is available.
- Evidence shows that high-quality work experience can significantly improve the life opportunities of young people and help break the “no experience no job” loop.
- The on-the-job skills gained through the programme is aimed at supporting 100,000 NEETs into retail employment by 2029.
It’s a simple enough concept, but one that could deliver practical outcomes and help arrest the NEET phenomena. And it got me thinking about whether it could be made to work for the MI sector.
Clearly the template would need a little tweaking as the profile of the kind of Retailers that the BRC will promote this through is different to many Music Instrument Shops. And clearly, we would want to develop something that would work for other areas such as Manufacture and Distribution.
I also think that there would need to be some work done on the ways that applicants could integrate, and the kind of experiences they could gain. For example, maybe we could develop a 4 week programme for instrument maintenance and repair, as part of the first steps toward an apprenticeship?
The ultimate aim would be to kickstart the development of career-pathways within the industry across all sorts of roles, acting as an entry point and ushering in a fresh perspective.
With this in mind I have approached the BRC (on behalf of the sector) to understand the programme a little more and find out if it could be adapted to better fit our requirements (whilst maintaining the structural support of the DWP). I will get back to you on the outcome, but initial conversations have been very positive.
I will also be holding a drop-in next Friday to get some early feedback, and forward steer on this topic. You can sign up for that here.
Please give it some thought and let me know if you think there is something here worth pursuing.
