Covid undermines career opportunities for young

Up to 43% of young people feel the pandemic has harmed their long-term career prospects says research by HR professionals’ organisation, the CIPD. The study says this may be because they’ve lost their job; the industry or organisation they want to work in now has fewer openings; or working from home means they’ve missed out on networking and development opportunities.

Findings show that 50% of young people currently not in work have been so for 12 months. Half (49%) of those unemployed are not confident about finding any work in the next three months — and even more (72%) aren’t confident about finding a job that meets their career ambitions and salary expectations in the next three months.

The survey, based on responses from 2,064 young people (aged 18–30), also finds that one in seven young people not in work (14%) have applied for more than 30 jobs in the last three months. Forty-four percent of those not currently in work, but looking for employment, attended university. 

While the economy is recovering from Covid, official UK figures show there were 166,000 fewer young people (aged 16-24) in the UK in employment in June 2021 compared with March 2020.

Yet the CIPD notes that many employers are struggling with staff shortages, highlighting the need for more organisations to invest in young people in different ways to bolster their talent pipeline.