Could retail be the key to solving the youth unemployment crisis?

Government youth unemployment advisor Alan Milburn spoke about retail’s key role in addressing youth unemployment at LabourList’s party Conference Event ‘Buying into retail jobs: Retail’s role in addressing the NEET crisis’ in partnership with the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

With 1.6 million fewer entry-level jobs than 25 years ago, and six in ten young people now never having had a job, Milburn said that while youth unemployment is not a new problem, it is a different one.

Helen Dickinson, who has been CEO of the British Retail Consortium since 2013, discussed how, after reading Alan Milburn’s report on the NEET crisis, the BRC worked alongside the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over the summer to create the ‘Opening Shift’ work experience model.

The model was introduced at the beginning of September this year, aiming to create 100,000 opportunities for NEETs, with 11,305 places pledged by retail businesses. It guarantees between two and four weeks of work experience.

Sarah Welsh, who has worked in the retail industry for over 20 years and is currently Chief Product, Brand and Commercial Officer at Matalan, said: “Having been someone who started my own career at sixteen on the shop floor, I know first-hand how critical retail is and the responsibility we have for creating sustainable careers for the future.”

Discussing the challenges in the sector however, she said: “The commercial environment that exists for us is challenging, the number of constraints we have with the national living wage, the inflationary environment, means that we have to work together with government to really be able to enable the possibility, because we need it.”

She added: “Everyone needs someone to believe in them, right? And you just need that first opportunity to learn.”

Joanne Thomas, General Secretary of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), spoke about how many young people do not feel that jobs provide them with the same opportunities for career progression and pay that they once did for previous generations, creating less incentive to look for employment.

She also suggested that, when looking at the NEET crisis, both government and businesses need to consider the perspective of those already working in retail, including the implications of unpredictable and unguaranteed hours and how these can affect workers in the industry.

With a collaborative approach between government, retailers and unions, however, the panel expressed hope that retail could be one of the key sectors in tackling the NEET crisis in the UK.

READ MORE: Labour Party Conference 2026: Full LabourList events programme, revealed

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