84% want to work. So why are nearly a million young people being left behind?
We started Hike with the ambition of fixing a broken system. And this morning we've woken up to a report that, in the UK, there are almost 1m young people not in education, employment or training. The so-called NEET cohort. Given our goals at Hike, this is something we couldn't let slide.
84% of that NEET cohort, aged 16-24, want to work - they're just struggling to find it and they're being swept up, and away, by a system that is problematic even for those who are well established in their careers. So just imagine how it feels when you're new to the world of work and this is your daily experience.
And if that 84% figure surprises you, that's the whole problem. It's not 50%, not 60%... 84%. It's important to keep repeating that number.
What the report actually says
In the plainest, starkest, language; 957,000 people are currently NEET. The trajectory is such that by 2031 up to 1.25m people could be in that category.
And in terms of ratio of spend, if the government is spending £1 on getting young people into work, it's spending £25 on welfare support dealing with the consequences of not doing so. This is clearly, clearly, not sustainable.
The "anxious generation"
60% of young NEETs, that's around 580,000 people, are economically inactive rather than unemployed. Those who are NEET are nearly twice as likely to have a health condition compared to the overall 16-24 population and the proportion with a mental health condition is nearly two and a half times the rate of 2012. The review warns that a "rising tide of mental ill-health, anxiety, depression, and neurodiversity" is a key driver.
Milburn himself was explicit:
"They are not snowflakes. They are an anxious generation."
The experience trap
We've long-seen, and all experienced I'm sure, the paradox of needing experience to get your first job but without having your first job you don't have experience. With entry-level jobs starting to require two years' experience, this is now getting sharper and sharper.
With grad schemes receiving hundreds of applications for every place and apprenticeships being oversubscribed, this structural loop actively keeps young people out.
And it's not just one "type" of person that this is happening to; it's school leavers who find themselves without a path forward, graduates who can't land their first role, anyone who has stepped out of the chaos for mental health, family or caring reasons and just can't get back in.
Vacancies in hospitality have halved in the last four years alone, while "Saturday jobs" have long been declining and apprenticeships have fallen 35% in the past decade — meaning 1.6 million fewer low and medium skilled jobs exist in the economy. All of this contributes, not only to grim reading for the economy but also in terms of delivering against ambition and supporting the sense of personal value.
When we founded Hike we were focused on bringing joy to the whole experience of managing your career, but also to introduce the feeling of ambition and aspiration. If every rung, even the very first, of the career ladder is being eroded how can anyone begin to feel that spark?
Employer hesitancy is partly rational, not just lazy gatekeeping
The rise in employer National Insurance contributions in April 2025 disproportionately impacts low earners, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies notes this is a natural hypothesis for the employment fall among 21-24 year olds. There are now active calls to pause the government's plan to scrap the lower minimum wage for 16 and 17 year olds, with employers saying it will make it too expensive to hire young people. BBC News reports government sources are interested in delaying that rise. Employers aren't solely gatekeeping, some face genuine cost pressures that make entry-level hiring harder
So when we said the system was broken, we legitimately meant the whole system.
The experience trap is real. Here's what Hike does about it.
The Milburn review didn't describe an attitude problem. It described four concrete, structural barriers. Here's how Hike addresses each one.
Employers ask for experience you can't get → Job Fit Analysis
Before you spend a week on an application, Hike tells you honestly where your profile fits the role and where it doesn't. Stop burning energy on roles that were never going to work. Focus it where you have a real shot.
A blank CV with nothing to put on it → CV Optimisation
It doesn't generate a generic template. It works from your CV and a specific job description — reframing what you already have in the language that employer is actually looking for. Your experience, made as visible as possible.
Interview anxiety that feels impossible to overcome → Stage Prep
Specific preparation for each stage of each process — not generic tips. And the ability to practise and tweak with honest feedback, before you're in the room.
No one to ask → Sherpa Hike's AI career coach knows your CV, your applications, and where you are in the process. The guidance is specific because it knows your situation — not a scripted chatbot, but something closer to the advisor most people never had access to. We know it's not exactly the same as a human, but it's so much closer than just generic chatbot responses that doesn't understand your situation.
Our next steps
- We're going to work towards a model that is open and available for every young person aged 16-24 in the UK who is out of work or education. Everything on the platform, available to everyone it was built for.
- Set-up a charter for employers, especially those in Manchester, to agree to hire differently, to review differently and to view candidates differently.
We'll be posting here on how we're moving towards these goals. And this isn't something that will take months; we're talking days.
The government spends £25 managing youth unemployment for every £1 it invests in preventing it. We're on the £1 side.
For now, if you consider yourself to be impacted by the challenges that this report highlights, we strongly encourage you to take a look at on our dedicated page and we'll keep you posted with updates.