New directive for employers to empower NEET young people

In our Talent Unlocked partnership with Business in the Community, we’re urging and equipping businesses across the country to empower ethnically diverse young people to secure and succeed within employment.

As part of this, Business in the Community have today reset their flagship Race at Work Charter with a clear directive for employers to recruit and retain marginalised young people.

The opportunity

While employers are faced with a skills and retention crisis, an ageing workforce, and tightening budgets; there are almost a million young people not in education, employment or training in the UK. And a disproportionate number of these young people are from Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds. If employers can cultivate workplaces where these young people can thrive, they unlock a generation of talent for their future sustainability and growth.

The Race at Work Charter

The Race at Work Charter is a widely recognised framework for employer action on fairness and racial equality. Over 1,100 organisations, representing 6 million employees, are already signed up. Today, with the 30^th anniversary of BITC’s Race Campaign, the Charter has been updated to reflect the most pressing priorities for employers who are committed to improving equality of opportunities in the workplace. Instigated by our partnership, the first commitment in the Charter now directs employers to support the pathways of ethnically diverse young people out of unemployment and into good work and enterprise.

Embedding the evidence

To translate commitment into action, we have supported BITC to develop new practical guides to help employers create meaningful opportunities for marginalised young people through:

1. Apprenticeships
2. Work experience

These resources incorporate vital learning from our research and evidence on what works, equipping employers to make real, evidence-based change.

Barry Fletcher, CEO: “The Race at Work Charter Reset, alongside the Talent Unlocked partnership between Youth Futures Foundation and Business in the Community, is a powerful moment of possibility. We have a unique opportunity to galvanise employers into meaningful action – to break down barriers for young people from ethnically diverse backgrounds who are not in education, employment, or training.

This is about more than access, it’s about fairness, progression, and lasting change. When we invest in potential, we unlock a future that benefits us all.”

More about Talent Unlocked

Talent Unlocked is a three-year partnership between Youth Futures Foundation, the national What Works Centre for youth employment, and Business in the Community, the UK’s largest responsible business network. Together, we’re supporting employers to create pathways for ethnically diverse young people who are currently not in education, employment or training, to secure, sustain, and succeed within employment.