‘We’re not snowflakes, looking for a job is tough’

“It’s a bit demoralising,” says 22-year-old Katie Abbas about the hundreds of jobs she’s applied for over the past year, with no success.

She has been among thousands of young people at a jobs fair in Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium, at which the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall launched the government’s Youth Guarantee Trailblazers programme last week.

The scheme aims to offer tailored support for 18 to 21 year olds as they try to find work.

It comes as new figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed 987,000 people aged between 16 and 24 are not in education, employment or training across the UK.

Katie, who is from Liverpool, said looking for a job had been tough since graduating from university last year.

She hopes to become an interior designer or use her languages degree in some way.

“It is stressful – constantly worrying about money. Even just wondering if I can afford this weekly shop?

“And then looking for a career on top of that, is even more demoralising because I am not getting any income so I am struggling to kick-start my career.”

Katie faces the usual conundrum for people starting on the work ladder, where she says employers are “looking for experience but I can’t get the experience when I need experience to get the experience.

“It’s frustrating.”

She says she would welcome tailored support but it was ultimately down to employers to “take a chance” on young people.

Liverpool is among eight English regions that have been allocated a total of £45m by the government to help people into work as part of the youth guarantee programme.

The other areas include the East and West Midlands, Tees Valley, West of England, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and two in London.

The scheme will focus on vulnerable young people who face the most barriers, including care leavers – nearly 40% of whom are not in employment, education or training, according to the government.

Support is expected to include training opportunities, free travel passes, mental health support and money advice.

Jenny Smith, 24, from St Helens, became a mum 18 months ago and has already had a confidence boost after getting support from an employment officer following help from the Liverpool City Region.

She now works in the care sector after receiving assistance with interview and CV skills.

She says the biggest barrier for her had been finding a job that she could fit around child care and she recommends young people be upfront when discussing flexible working with potential employers.

“If you ask them, they will work around you. It is daunting but if you don’t ask, you don’t get.”

Aleesha Carroll, 19, from Kirkby, said a skills bootcamp had helped her land a dream job in early years child care.

She said not knowing what jobs were out there was a barrier for her.

“I did an early years boot camp after coming to a jobs fair two years ago, now I am working in a nursery and I love it, I come to work with a smile on my face every day.”

In the Liverpool City Region, there is a one-stop shop for careers advice on the BeMore app alongside physical hubs across the area’s six boroughs.

Mayor Steve Rotheram said some of the stories he had heard from young people had been “heart-breaking”.

“What we try to do is give them the wraparound support – it could be debt advice it could be bereavement support, it could be help with all sorts of relationship issues.

“It’s not about a lack of talent, it’s about a lack of opportunity”.

James Barber, 23, runs a tech start-up called Harker in Liverpool.

He said today’s young people face specific challenges because of their experiences with the pandemic.

Many teenagers may have stopped attending school during that time, leaving them outside education and less likely to access training and work.

He believes “lots of employers might not recognise that”.

James rejects any suggestion that today’s twenty-somethings are “snowflakes” who just need to pull their socks up and work in the same way previous generations did.

“If you want to get the best out of people you have to provide the environment which gets the most out of them,” he said.

“These days people can work from anywhere – even their phone. Embrace it.

“Employers should empower employees to work the best they can.”

The work and pensions secretary said at Anfield: “Young people are our future – and yet for too long they have been denied access to the opportunities and support they need.

“At Liverpool FC, the home of champions, we are championing young people to get the skills, education and jobs they require to achieve their ambitions.”

She said the government was investing the £45m, “including almost £5m here in Liverpool, to deliver our Youth Guarantee, so every young person across England gets the chance to earn or learn, as we boost living standards and get Britain working under the Plan for Change”.