UK hospitality sector to offer up to 100,000 jobs to young people out of work

Restaurants and pubs such as Nando’s and Fuller’s will create placements for 18- to 24-year-olds under a DWP-backed scheme. Bars, clubs, and restaurants will offer up to 100,000 jobs to young people not in employment, education, or training (Neet) over the next three years in an effort to give them a first step on the ladder into work.

This initiative comes ahead of the publication of a report on Neets by former health secretary Alan Milburn, who has warned that the number of young people not in work or education in the UK could rise to 1.25 million over the next five years unless ministers intervene. His full review into Britain’s crisis in youth unemployment, including recommendations to the government about how to tackle the crisis, is expected soon after the autumn budget on 28 October.

Working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), hospitality businesses including the restaurant chains Wagamama, Nando’s, and Burger King, the hotel chain Premier Inn, and pub chains including Fuller’s and Mitchells & Butlers will offer Neets aged 18 to 24 placements of up to four weeks to gain "the skills and confidence needed to take their first step into work".