John Lewis Partnership to tackle youth unemployment

The commitment extends the Partnership’s Building Happier Futures programme, launched in October 2022 to move young people who grew up in the care system into work.  

Since Building Happier Futures launched, it has offered jobs to more than 450 care-experienced young people to date, alongside 1,700 welcome visits and 1,200 job-shadowing placements.  

With this pledge, the Partnership will offer at least 250 roles a year, more than double its yearly average so far. 

Many of the roles will be permanent. However, where roles are seasonal or fixed-term, participants will still benefit from the same tailored employability programme to boost their skills and support them towards the next step in their career.  

The programme runs across all John Lewis and Waitrose shops, offices and warehouses, as well as five hotels. It is delivered by Partners with Care Aware training, equipping them to understand and support care-experienced people.  

This announcement comes as official figures shows more than one million young people in the UK are not in employment, education or training (NEET), the highest figure in more than a decade. Alan Milburn’s government commissioned review named care-experienced young people as one of the four highest risk groups.  

The Partnership will also trial the government’s new Jobs Guarantee scheme, initially offering 20 roles in Waitrose branches. The scheme gives 18-24-year-olds who have claimed Universal Credit for 18 months six months of paid work at 25 hours a week, with the government covering all employment costs.  

Alongside this, the Partnership is calling on the government to let employers draw on Growth and Skills Levy funding for short pre-employment courses. This is primarily aimed at marginalised groups, and seeks to improve CV writing, interview skills and IT training.  

It is also urging ministers to rethink the removal of funded apprenticeships that support progression into management.  

Jason Tarry, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “As an employee-owned business, we’re able to make decisions that benefit society over shareholders, and Building Happier Futures is a shining example. Four years in and it’s needed more than ever, so we’re doubling down on our commitment.”