Analysis of Adzuna job vacancy data shows ‘starter’ jobs – vacancies that would be accessible for someone entering the workforce for the first time – have fallen by 49% over the last decade
Figures suggest the number of starter jobs available for young people in 2025-26, averaging 71,000 vacancies a week, is the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21
Young people’s chances of finding work varies significantly depending on where they live – there are six young people aged 16-24 not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the North East for every starter job vacancy, compared to a national average of three to one
Researchers are calling on the Government to prioritise a more localised approach to place-based barriers to youth employment, alongside a focus on job creation and more support for young people while they are in education.
The Government’s youth employment drive faces a significant challenge as young people face a ‘starter’ jobs drought
Researchers from the Work Foundation and Lancaster University, in partnership with Liverpool City Council, studied job vacancy data and undertook focus groups with young people in Morecambe and Liverpool.
The research shows that nationally, average weekly starter job vacancies have fallen by almost half from 2016-17 to 2025-26. And while total vacancies have fallen in recent years, the decline in starter jobs has been 1.6 times faster than for other jobs in the last 12 months
The largest contributor to the fall in starter jobs are declines in associate professional occupations – such as roles in human resources, business sales executives, and advertising and marketing roles – with average weekly vacancies falling by 73% from 2016/17 to 2025/26. Roles in sales and customer service occupations (such as retail assistants and call centre operatives) have also fallen by 59% since 2016/17.
In Oct-Dec 2025, there was only one starter job vacancy per three NEET young people in the UK.
Competition for these jobs is even higher than these figures suggest, as NEET young people will be competing with applicants who are in education, those already in work and looking to change jobs, as well as older workers looking to re-enter the workforce.
Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said, “The Milburn Review has rightly highlighted the systemic failures that make it much harder for many young people to enter and remain in employment. But this research shines a new light on the dramatic decline of job options available to those who want to work.
“The implications are clear – the Government must take decisive steps to improve the quality and security of work on offer to young people – particularly in those parts of the country where the jobs market is weakest. And we need to see more powers and funding devolved to address other place-based barriers to work, such as poor transport connectivity and skills, which often mean young people are unable to access employment opportunities that do exist.
“Without action to create more good-quality jobs, we risk investing heavily in reforms to education and employment support, while still leaving too many young people without a viable route into
Adzuna data suggests that NEET young people in the North and the Midlands face a more significant starter jobs shortage and are more constrained by the ongoing weakening in local labour markets:
In Oct-Dec 2025 in the North East, there were six NEET young people for every starter job vacancy, and in East Midlands, there were five
The quality of starter jobs also varies by region with starter job vacancies for young people in the North West much more likely to be temporary than those for the wider UK population in 2025.
Young people who participated in the study in Morecambe and Liverpool also reported a series of place-based challenges to employment.
Many participants described struggling early in life, shaping how they later engaged with support services such as JobCentres and council-funded programmes. Young people were grateful for support they received through the local council and voluntary sector, but awareness of these opportunities varied, and many voluntary sector schemes are struggling for long-term funding.
Participants also stated that hiring processes were complex, impersonal, and demoralising, with applications receiving little or no feedback. AI recruitment and automation appeared to create additional barriers for young people with lower attainment from secondary education.
Dr Divya Jyoti from Lancaster University Management School, who led the research with young people, together with colleagues, commented: “The young people we met in Morecambe and Liverpool aspire to be in education, work, or training but they feel alienated from the labour market.
“Through no fault of their own, many young people in this study have faced difficult transitions and systemic barriers through their education and early lives. They are trying to find work in an extremely competitive market but are receiving little feedback or encouragement. We need to see strengthened support with trusted organisations to enable young people to take their first steps into work in such challenging local labour markets.”
In response to the rising numbers of NEET young people, the UK Government has announced a £1 billion package to support youth employment initiatives and have commissioned the Milburn Review to identify the factors driving the rise in the NEET numbers.
