Beyond the first job: Why young people need a skills system that lasts
Alan Milburn’s interim review of young people and work offered a stark diagnosis: ‘there is neither a system nor a plan to increase youth participation’. With his final recommendations expected imminently, the challenge is to not simply introduce a new set of initiatives but to establish a coherent, durable system that will support young people’s transitions into meaningful employment.
Earlier this year, I gave evidence to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee, drawing on my work with colleagues at the Warwick Institute of Employment Research. One of the clearest lessons is that youth unemployment is not a problem of young people lacking skills. It’s about whether employers create opportunities for young people to develop those skills and enter employment. Our comparative research found that employers in England face substantially higher costs when delivering selected apprenticeships than similar employers in Germany and Austria. These reflect differences in wages and training arrangements but also difference in how responsibilities, risks and costs are shared in the delivery of apprenticeships. In the UK, funding uncertainty and repeated policy and system reform disincentivise employer participation. It can also make investment in developing the skills of existing employees more attractive to employers than the risk of taking on new labour market entrants.
Supporting employers requires more than financial incentives or calls for greater engagement. It means understanding the costs and risks employers face, providing effective support, reducing administrative burdens and establishing predictable arrangements - all of which can enable sustained participation in the skills system.
But employer engagement is not an end in itself. It’s an essential component of a healthy vocational education and training (VET) system. Employers shape the availability of opportunities and the quality of workplace learning and pathways into skilled occupations. VET must do more than respond to immediate recruitment needs; it should equip young people with occupational capabilities and support meaningful, long-term careers. The goal is not to get an interview or secure a first job; the goal is to support entry into career pathways.
This goal is central to VET2050, our programme which is developing a long-term vision for high-quality VET in England. Our starting position is that quality is not just about the characteristics of courses or providers; instead quality in VET reflects the wider system, including the institutional, financial and governance conditions surrounding provision. We are seeing that a high-quality VET system needs to be learner-centred with clear pathways and high-quality occupational learning supported by effective coordination. Such a system needs national coherence alongside local flexibility, recognizing that opportunities and the support required to access them will vary considerably across the country.
We also need to consider how we measure success. Getting a young person into work is the starting point, but what happens a year later, or five years on? Are they in sustained employment, developing occupational competence, and progressing in their careers? Equally, to what extent does the system enable and support employers to offer apprenticeships, invest in training, and support lifelong learning? A high-quality VET system should be judged by the opportunities it creates over time, not simply immediate participation figures.
Achieving this requires a shared understanding of what the skills system is intended to deliver and how responsibilities are distributed. It also requires a durable, cross-party settlement that provides employers, providers and local institutions with the confidence to plan for the long-term.
The Government’s response to the Select Committee in early October deferred decisions on a cross-departmental youth employment strategy simply stating, ‘Revisit when Milburn is published’. The budget may indicate Government’s intentions, but the real test will be whether Milburn’s recommendations establish the foundation of a coherent, stable and responsive system rather than adding another layer of initiatives to an already fragmented landscape.
Dr Emily Erickson is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick. Her research focuses on vocational education and training, skills development and job quality, with a particular interest in how skills systems foster employer participation in workforce development. She has contributed to major UK and international research projects on skills, apprenticeships and employment and has produced research and policy reports for organisations such as the International Labour Organization and the Labour Relations Agency.
