Some Gen Zers are desperately trying to break into the job market by sending out thousands of applications, standing on Wall Street with signs begging for jobs, and secretly handing out resumes while waitressing at industry conferences. There is also a growing group of disillusioned young people, or NEETs, who have left education, employment or training altogether. Now, one country is launching a nearly $1 billion plan to tackle its youth unemployment crisis.
Earlier this week, the UK Government announced a $965 million investment to create more apprenticeships and place 50,000 young people into roles.
In partnership with community leaders, this three-year initiative will provide promising young people with the skills training they need for local employment opportunities. Of the eye-popping funding, $186 million will be used by mayors to experiment with connecting Gen Z, especially NEETs, with employers in their neighborhoods. In addition, to ease the financial burden on some companies, the plan will also fully cover the cost of apprenticeships for small and medium-sized enterprises under the age of 25.
Gen Z in the UK will have access to more apprenticeship roles in high-demand industries such as hospitality and retail. However, governments are still paying close attention to the critical skills that young professionals will need in the AI era. New short courses in engineering, digital skills and AI will also begin rolling out from April 2026. The UK’s apprenticeship drive is part of Chancellor Keir Starmer’s master plan to get two thirds of young people actively involved in higher-level study and apprenticeships, following a significant decline in the number of young people in 2017.
“For too long, success has been measured by the number of young people going to university, and that narrow view has blocked opportunities and created barriers that need to be broken down,” Starmer said. “It’s time to change the way we look at apprenticeships and put them on equal footing with universities.”
Gen Z suffers from unemployment in the UK and abroad
Britain’s ambitious $1 billion strategy is welcome as youth unemployment rates soar around the world.
In the first half of last year, more than 16% of 18-24-year-old men in the UK, or around 460,000 people, were NEETs, the highest proportion in more than a decade. Globally, in 2023, approximately one in five people aged 15 to 24 will be NEET. And for those actively job hunting, options are limited. The UK received more than 1.2 million applications for just under 17,000 graduate positions in 2023 and 2024, according to the Institute of Student Employers (ISE).
This is the highest number of applications per job ever recorded since ISE began collecting data in 1991.
But things don’t seem to be improving on the other side of the pond either. In 2022, there were approximately 4.3 million unemployed Gen Z NEETs in the United States. According to a FRED analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, as of September this year, 9.4% of men and 9% of women between the ages of 20 and 24 were unemployed, more than double the general unemployment rate of 4.4%.
Moreover, U.S. officials have warned that the problem could get worse. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) warned that AI could cause the unemployment rate for new graduates to soar to 25% in the next two to three years.
Like the UK government, Mr Warner has proposed a back-to-work programme, but the issue is bipartisan. Together with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), they introduced a bill that would require companies and federal agencies to report AI-related job losses to the Department of Labor and make their findings publicly available.
