Amazon’s John Boumphrey: young people want to work but they need a helping hand and guidance
When it comes to young people navigating the path from school to work, technical and academic routes must be valued equally and designed around real local jobs. So says John Boumphrey, VP, UK & Ireland Country Manager at Amazon.
He was talking as retailers joined forces with the UK government with the aim of creating 100,000 jobs for young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) within the current parliament. The tie up comes with a new retail work experience programme to help tackle Britain’s growing youth unemployment crisis, announced at the Retail Jobs Summit in Parliament, alongside DWP Secretary of State, Pat McFadden, Chair of the Young People and Work Review, Alan Milburn, and over 30 retail leaders.
This builds on Milburn’s recent interim Young People and Work Report which laid bare the scale of the challenge facing the country. Almost one million, or one in seven young people, are considered NEET. It warns that this could rise to more than 1.25 million over the next five years. Too many are stuck in the vicious cycle of “no experience, no job”, leaving them shut out of employment opportunities, it is argued.
A new work experience programme, Opening Shift, has been developed by retailers through the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions with Marc Bolland. Retailers will offer two to four week work experience placements to NEETs aged 18-24, helping them gain the skills and confidence needed to take their first step into work. Participants will continue to receive Universal Credit throughout their placement. Over 40 retailers are involved in the development and roll-out of the new programme with 11,305 placements currently pledged.
Every participant will receive an interview at the end of their placement, with the goal of moving as many as possible into a role within the company if one is available. The on the job skills gained through the programme is aimed to support 100,000 NEETs into retail employment by 2029.
The Department for Work and Pensions will build a national pipeline via Jobcentres allowing NEETs to access these work experience opportunities. The work experience will be 16-35 hours each week and provide young people with the necessary skills and experience to then take their first step onto the career ladder with paid employment. Participants will also have a dedicated workplace “Buddy” to support them throughout their placement.
In a LinkedIn post, Boumphrey said: “Yesterday (Thursday, 10th September) I made my first visit to No10 North in Manchester - joining Education Secretary Lucy Powell, metro mayors, officials and leaders from across education and business to talk about how we can collectively build better routes from school into work.”
He added: “What the future holds for young people is a familiar dinner table conversation in the Boumphrey household. Young people want to work, but they're often not clear on the route from school into paid employment. And we can't expect them to figure that out on their own.”
“I saw it recently with my own son - a few days of work experience (not at Amazon, I hasten to add!) and he was already thinking differently about what he might want to do next. That first taste of working life is so formative, and every young person deserves that opportunity. The alignment in the room was really striking - mayors, colleges, schools, the Department for Education and employers all wanting the same thing - technical and academic routes valued equally, designed around real local jobs, with regional partnerships identifying the skills gaps and closing them together, so that every young person has a clear line of sight from school to a real career.”
Boumphrey concluded: “As I said in my closing remarks yesterday, at Amazon, we're ready to play our part - and we’re keen to make the case to other employers. Because it isn't just the right thing to do for future generations. It makes great business sense.”
