The government has announced plans to create 300,000 extra work experience placements over the next three years to tackle what ministers describe as a 'quiet crisis' in youth employment. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden will unveil the expansion of sector-based work academy programmes (Swaps) aimed at helping nearly one million 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (Neet).
McFadden warned that almost 60% of young Neets have never had a job, calling the situation 'a ticking timebomb' that risks their future working lives. He noted that many traditional entry-level jobs have disappeared due to retail decline and the pandemic, adding: 'Talent is spread evenly across the country, but opportunity is not.'
Around half of the placements will come through Swaps, six-week training schemes with guaranteed job interviews. Government analysis shows participants are 13% more likely to be in work two years later, with four in ten moving into sustained employment within six months. Nearly 100,000 Swaps took place in 2025-26, with a record 25,000 young people starting this year; ministers target 115,000 placements next year.
The announcement follows a stark warning from former Labour health secretary Alan Milburn, who said Britain has been 'neglectful' of a generation struggling to access work and training. He highlighted that for every £25 spent keeping young people on benefits, only £1 is spent helping them into work. Milburn described the situation as 'shameful' and a 'generational crisis', noting a sharp rise in young people reporting work-limiting health conditions, particularly mental health and neurodiversity.
Construction accounts for the largest share of Swaps, with nearly 17,000 starts, and employers including Manchester Airport Group, JD, and Gatwick airport backing the expanded placements. Separately, the Times reports that families on benefits could receive a monthly bursary to prevent them from discouraging their 16- and 17-year-old children from taking apprenticeships, as parents often lose child benefit and universal credit when their children start work.
