Marc Bolland, former chief executive of Marks & Spencer, has been appointed as a government jobs adviser to address the UK's youth unemployment crisis. The appointment comes amid warnings that the country risks a 'lost generation' without urgent intervention.
About one million 16- to 24-year-olds—one in eight—are not in education, employment or training (Neets). An interim report by former health secretary Alan Milburn warned this could rise to 1.25 million by the 2030s without radical action.
Bolland, who also led Morrisons, will serve as lead non-executive director at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). He will work with chief executives across sectors to create clear routes into work and advise work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden on responding to Milburn's findings.
A central part of Bolland's role will involve supporting disabled young people, including those with anxiety, depression or neurodevelopmental conditions, to access training and employment. He will collaborate with charities through his existing involvement with Movement to Work, which has already helped over 200,000 unemployed young people.
The UK's Neet rate of about 12.5% is significantly higher than in the Netherlands (5%). Milburn's report found six in ten young people have never had a job, up from four in ten in 2005, with the economic cost estimated at £125bn.
