Marvin OnumonuAnna Spaul Castiglione, director of data innovation at ManpowerGroup, discusses the challenges and opportunities in addressing youth unemployment and the work-readiness gap in the UK.
What unique perspectives do you bring to tackling youth unemployment and the work‑readiness gap?
I lead the talent intelligence function, bringing a more scientific, data‑driven lens to how we look at the labour market. My background in clinical research and digital marketing analytics means I’m used to combining rigorous data analysis with real‑world behavioural insight. We use multiple data sources to go beyond headline unemployment figures and understand the nuanced supply‑demand gaps by industry, skill and demographic.
For example, while the Office for National Statistics (ONS) might show two and a half unemployed people per vacancy overall, our data reveals that in some critical sectors like nuclear there can be fewer than one suitably skilled person per vacancy.
That kind of detailed insight allows us to identify where youth unemployment is concentrated, where skills gaps are most acute, and how to design interventions – such as apprenticeships, targeted outreach and employer partnerships – that genuinely bridge the work‑readiness gap rather than treating youth as a single, homogenous group.
What are the most significant factors contributing to the widening gap between education and employability?
One of the biggest issues is that youth unemployment is treated as a single “big bucket”, when in reality the challenges facing young people are highly varied and often structural. People aged 16 to 24 are around three times more likely to be unemployed than the general population, and they’re trying to enter the labour market at a time when vacancies have been relatively stagnant and employers are more hesitant to hire.
That hesitancy is driven by several factors, including changes to employment rights and the associated cost impacts, uncertainty around how to use new digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) effectively, and wider economic and regulatory shifts such as tariffs and sustainability‑related initiatives.
On a very practical level, there are also barriers that sit outside traditional employability narratives – for instance, long waiting times to pass a driving test make it harder for young people to access on‑site roles just as many employers are increasing on‑site requirements, and ongoing rail disruptions can further limit physical access to work. All of this combines to create a situation where education alone doesn’t automatically translate into employability without additional, targeted support.
What innovative approaches is ManpowerGroup using to help young people become more work‑ready?
We’re taking a multi‑layered approach that combines community partnerships, structured programmes and direct employer collaboration. One example is our partnership with Centrepoint, a charity focused on youth homelessness where a fundamental barrier to reduction is employment. Through this, we not only fundraise and volunteer but also support the young people directly through employee mentoring to build work readiness and confidence, and also through introduction routes to our client base through employability days.
We have ManpowerGroup specific initiatives like MyPath, which helps young people and career changers gain recognised accreditations, so they can build their CV and demonstrate skills relevant to their next role rather than being left with gaps. We also run programmes such as Experis Academy, which are designed to bridge the skills gap for our candidates and clients.
Alongside this, we work closely with clients to redesign onboarding for those who may never have worked before or who might not yet be fully confident with reading, writing or technology, including buddying systems and more flexible criteria around what a “good fit” looks like.
Internally, we have developed a youth specific pastoral support programme, The Working Mindset, to ensure those joining ManpowerGroup as a first step into the world of work are supported in developing the soft skills they need to set them up for success such as resilience, self motivation, communication and growth mindest.
The Government’s £725m fast‑track apprenticeship package has attracted attention. In your view, what will this mean in practice for young jobseekers and employers?
The fast‑track apprenticeship investment is significant because it is clearly targeted at sectors with the most acute supply‑demand gaps, such as nuclear, infrastructure and engineering. For young jobseekers, this means there will be more structured, subsidised pathways into genuinely high‑demand, high‑value roles, with the Government effectively de‑risking that first step into the labour market through measures like six months’ subsidised pay and a more candidate‑friendly “clearing” style system for apprenticeships.
For employers, particularly those facing ageing workforces and chronic skills shortages, the funding provides the support they’ve been asking for to bring in emerging talent at scale, even while they are under cost‑cutting pressure. Employers have long recognised the need to invest in youth but have struggled with how to afford it; this package gives them the financial and structural backing to do so. In practice, it encourages leading employers in critical sectors to plan ahead, hire for potential and build long‑term pipelines rather than simply backfilling roles.
Are there particular sectors where apprenticeships are making the biggest impact, and what barriers still need to be addressed?
The greatest impact is expected in sectors that are both systemically important to the economy and experiencing severe skills shortages: infrastructure and engineering (including rail and transportation) and nuclear are key examples.
These sectors underpin broader economic activity – if you improve rail and infrastructure, you improve access to jobs more widely, and nuclear remains strategically critical. That’s why they’ve been chosen as priority areas for the fast‑track apprenticeship scheme.
In contrast, sectors like fast‑moving consumer goods, retail and hospitality tend to have the opposite problem: they receive too many applications and struggle more with quality and fit than with raw volume. For them, apprenticeships alone won’t solve the underlying challenges.
Barriers that still need addressing include employers not always having a clear picture of what they actually need from people in these roles, limited use of technology to sift and nurture large candidate pools, and a lack of coordinated, long‑term talent pooling across companies and sectors.
While there are promising examples of industries forming collaboration groups, sharing ideas and even talent through joint careers fairs, this behaviour is still relatively rare and needs to become more widespread.
With ongoing skills shortages, how are employers evolving their recruitment strategies to attract and retain talent?
Employers that are performing best are moving away from purely transactional approaches focused on pay and instead thinking more holistically about potential, well‑being and long‑term fit. In 2022, the focus was heavily on attraction through high salaries and generous sign‑on bonuses, and 2023 into 2024 saw a wave of salary and rate benchmarking projects as companies asked whether they were paying above market to secure scarce talent.
This year, however, well‑being and its link to productivity have become central. Many employers have recognised that, in a low‑attrition, “job‑hugging” environment where people are staying put and hiring budgets are constrained, the way to get more from their workforce is to make work better rather than endlessly chasing new hires. As a result, they are investing in low‑cost but high‑impact initiatives such as employee‑led wellbeing programmes, local “coffee and chat” sessions, group walks, and digital workshops on topics like stress management and yoga, along with cultural initiatives and “summer early finishes.”
On the attraction side, the more advanced employers are explicitly hiring for potential, digital literacy and AI‑native skills, and they are being clear with candidates about how they expect them to use AI, both in applications and in the job. This clarity helps them filter more effectively and match people to roles that will evolve with technology, rather than simply replicating old job profiles.
Have you observed any shifts in hiring behaviour among UK employers? How are these changes affecting candidate availability?
There has been a noticeable shift towards an employer‑led market in contrast to pre-2022. Overall, it is harder for people – especially young entrants and graduates – to secure roles, which is reflected in reports of candidates submitting 150 to 600 applications in some sectors. At the same time, attrition rates are very low in many industries, and we’re seeing “job hugging”, with people staying in their current roles for longer rather than moving frequently.
Some employers have even approached us for help in encouraging a certain amount of natural attrition so they can refresh skills and maintain productivity. On the flip side, in niche, high‑demand areas where there are genuine skills deficits, candidates still hold considerable power and can negotiate on salary and bonuses despite the broader market cooling.
Employers that are adapting well tend to be those that acknowledge and plan for this dual reality: they’re explicit about how they want candidates to engage with AI, they’re forward‑looking in their hiring criteria, and they focus on potential and adaptability rather than rigidly backfilling old roles. Those that continue to hire purely to replace like‑for‑like, without rethinking the role or the skills mix, are the ones struggling most to match candidates effectively.
How is data innovation at ManpowerGroup helping to match candidates with roles more effectively in today’s market?
Our talent intelligence function integrates ONS data with our own proprietary datasets to build a much more granular view of the labour market than headline statistics allow. We analyse vacancies, skills, motivators, demographics and industry‑specific dynamics to understand not just where jobs exist, but where the real bottlenecks and opportunities lie – for instance, identifying sectors where there are fewer than one qualified candidate per vacancy versus those where there is a surplus of applicants. This informs everything from where we focus our recruiters’ efforts and talent pooling, to how we advise employers on workforce planning, diversity goals and employer value propositions.
On top of that, we are investing in AI‑driven tools that help with CV sifting, job matching and removing repetitive administrative tasks. The goal is not to replace human judgement, but to free our people to spend more time on what humans do best: listening, building trust, understanding the whole person and making nuanced matching decisions.
Our philosophy is “humans first, digital always” – we use digital and AI to enhance, not diminish, human connection, which ultimately leads to better and more sustainable matches between candidates and roles.
What advice would you offer to young jobseekers and those entering the workforce to improve their employability in the current landscape?
I’d encourage young jobseekers not to underestimate what makes them different and to actively lean into roles that stretch them rather than mirroring exactly what has been done before. Career paths today are rarely straight ladders; they’re more like sideways journeys that build a wider set of experiences and transferable skills before moving up. That means being open to different industries and roles, including those you may not initially see as your “ideal” job, as long as you can clearly translate the skills you gain into the story you tell for your next move.
Volunteering, speaking opportunities and community involvement can all help build soft skills and confidence that employers value. It’s also increasingly important to build at least a basic understanding of generative AI and chat‑based tools, even if your target role isn’t explicitly tech focused because these tools are becoming part of everyday work.
Finally, flexibility and adaptability are key: employers are looking for people who can move into new environments, absorb knowledge quickly, and apply it elsewhere. If you can articulate concrete examples of adapting to change and learning on the move, you’ll stand out in a crowded market.
Looking ahead, what are your predictions for the UK workforce over the next year in terms of skills demand and hiring trends?
In the very short term, we expect unemployment to worsen slightly before it improves, largely because major initiatives like the apprenticeship package take time to translate into real‑world outcomes. Economic inactivity remains a concern, but we anticipate improvements there in the longer run as targeted programmes begin to bite.
On the demand side, vacancy growth is expected to return, with leading indicator sectors such as banking and financial services looking relatively strong, and areas that have just received substantial government investment – including defence, infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and engineering – likely to drive much of the new hiring.
Technology will continue to be a strong player, particularly where it intersects with advanced manufacturing and traditional industries. More broadly, one of the most encouraging trends is the growing collaboration between Government, employers and individuals in designing responses to labour market challenges.
The apprenticeship package, the introduction of a “clearing”‑style system, and the efforts of employers to articulate their needs around digital and AI skills all suggest a shift towards more cohesive, evidence‑based decision‑making. If that continues, we should see a more aligned system where skills supply, employer demand and government policy work together more effectively than they have in the past.
