As the number of young people in Britain not in education, employment or training (NEET) hits the one million mark, McDonald’s UK has embarked on what it claims is the biggest work experience program the country has ever seen.
The fast food giant, one of the UK’s biggest employers of under-25s, has today launched a national scheme offering 2,500 paid placements in its first year, with the ambition to increase commitment every year. Most importantly for a generation that is increasingly priced out of unpaid internships, every placement will come with a salary attached.
The program will be delivered through a network of McDonald’s franchisees, local business owners who own a majority of the 1,400-plus restaurants, and will be targeted in the NEET hotspots of the country. A quarter of all placements are reserved for young people who are already NEET or are considered to be at risk of becoming so.
To support the launch, McDonald’s used its first Youth Confidence Index, a piece of research that reveals the gap between aspiration and opportunity facing Britain’s under-25s. While 80 per cent of those in education, training or employment believe they have something good to offer society, that figure drops to 57 per cent among the NEET group. Two-thirds (67 percent) of the young people interviewed said they would jump at the chance to do work experience but not get it; nearly seven in ten (69 percent) cited a lack of opportunities in the area, while 61 percent said they would not be able to work for free.
It’s a familiar picture to anyone who’s covered the small business biz over the past decade, a job market where entry-level roles have dwindled, hospitality and sales jobs are no longer the norm, and the Bank of Mom and Dad has quietly become a requirement to get a foot on the career ladder.
Lauren Schultz, chief executive of McDonald’s UK & Ireland, described the move as a commercial and social responsibility. “At McDonald’s, we believe in the power and potential of young people and we want to help them succeed,” he said. “With over 100,000 employees under the age of 25 across the UK, we can make a real difference and are uniquely placed to open doors on a massive scale. Everything a young person needs to learn about the world of work, from communication to financial skills, can be learned at McDonald’s.”
The announcement was received in Whitehall. Pat McFadden, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said the program showed “what can happen when Government and businesses help young people into work”, noting McDonald’s “strong track record” in training. Rt Hon. Alan Milburn, chairman of the Young People and Work Review, did not hold back, calling the NEET crisis “a national outrage with long-term consequences” and calling on other employers to follow suit.
Industry watchers and academics are equally supportive. Lee Elliot Major OBE, professor of public transport at the University of Exeter, said: “We don’t have a shortage of talent in this country, we lack opportunities.” By providing high-quality paid work experiences, McDonald’s shows how businesses can improve social mobility and productivity, potentially changing the lives of thousands of young people.”
Haroon Chowdry, chief executive of the Center for Young Lives, said the details were clear. “Young people want to work. They have hopes and aspirations, but often lack opportunity and support. Every NEET youth is someone who has been let down by the system.”
For the participants themselves, all 16 years of age or older, the offer is a five-day, hands-on installation that covers the main mechanics of restaurant management, from inventory inspection and driver duties to customer service, all under the supervision of experienced staff. Alongside the practical experience are sessions on how to negotiate and time management, the soft skills money small and mid-sized employers across the country keep complaining about is missing from CVs.
The program builds on the body of work that predates the current NEET emergency to a certain extent. McDonald’s UK & Ireland’s UK & Ireland program has supported more than 22,000 people in obtaining degrees since 2006, while community programs such as Fun Football and Taste for Work, the latter of which has reached more than 210,000 young people, have long formed part of the company’s social investment. Today’s announcement also sees the chain partner with two of the country’s most influential brands. The Center for Young Lives is publishing a new report, Turning the Tide on Rising NEETs, which sets out evidence-based policy recommendations, while the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is launching a two-year research programme, State of a Generation.
For a government that is heavily involved in the politics of its Youth Guarantee, a promise to get every young person earning or studying, McDonald’s intervention is early. Whether other large employers can be persuaded to write similarly large checks remains an open question. As Milburn puts it, this is “the kind of leadership employers need to show if we’re serious about giving every young person a good start.”
For SME owners watching from the sidelines, the message is too hard to ignore. The talent is there. So is the appetite. What was missing, until now, was a door open enough for them to enter.
