M&S has announced Not Just Any Career, a new initiative that will create 1,000 training places for young people across the UK and Ireland.
Designed to open opportunities for people at the start of their careers, the programme will focus on leadership skills, hands-on experience and clear pathways into a retail career for life. Applicants will not need a degree to take part. Both M&S colleagues and external candidates can apply, from school leavers upwards, specifically aimed at 18-24-year-olds.
The programme responds to the growing youth unemployment challenge by giving young people practical experience, support and a direct route into management. The CEO of M&S, Stuart Machin, recently reflected on his career in retail which started with pushing trolleys at 16, in a blog post commissioned by Alan Milburn: “A Saturday job can change a young person’s life. I know, because it transformed mine. But when I think about the challenges facing young people today, I worry that many won’t have the same opportunity. That doesn’t need to be the case – we can do so much more to provide the opportunities, experiences and skills to unlock their confidence and get them into good jobs.”
The interim report of Alan Milburn’s Young People and Work Review found that nearly 1 million young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training, roughly one in eight – and forecast to rise to one in six by 2030.
