Collaborators

The systems challenge

1 in 8 young people are not in work, education, or training. And employers are struggling to build future-ready workforces in the face of growing skills shortages, shifting workforce demographics, and increasing difficulty attracting the right young talent.

While many employers want to improve how they recruit and retain young people, these ambitions are often held back by a lack of clear evidence about what works.

The opportunity for employers

With increasingly stretched resources, employers need to invest in initiatives that are proven to deliver meaningful outcomes.

With the robust, evidence-based recommendations we generate in this programme, employers will have the opportunity not only to transform outcomes for young people across the country, but to build diverse, thriving talent pipelines for their own long-term sustainability and growth.

What are we doing?

We’re working with innovative, socially aware partners to test a range of recruitment and retention practices that have the potential to improve outcomes for young people.

The interventions we evaluate might include things sharing interview questions with candidates in advance, or bespoke training for line managers.

Through Randomised Controlled Trials – the gold-standard method for assessing what works – we will build much-needed evidence on the real-world impact of these interventions, for young people and for employers.

Equipped with this evidence, we’ll share practical insights to drive change at scale – in policy and employer practice – to transform England’s youth employment system.

“Generating and curating high-quality evidence is at the heart of what we do at Youth Futures Foundation. Through these trials, we will develop a more detailed picture of what really works for both employers and employees, enabling informed decision making that creates real change for young people.”

Barry Fletcher – CEO, Youth Futures Foundation

Who are we working with?

Severn Trent

What works for recruitment and retention  · 

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Severn Trent
Employer partner

ProgrammeWhat works for recruitment and retention

Location

Evaluators

StatusActive

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About Severn Trent:

Severn Trent is one of the UK’s largest water and wastewater companies, providing fresh, clean drinking water and wastewater services to over eight million people across the Midlands every day. The company supplies around two billion litres of water daily, then safely treats and returns wastewater to the environment. Alongside investing billions in critical infrastructure, the company is deeply focused on sustainability, community impact and creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to build meaningful, long‑term careers.

Working with Youth Futures

Severn Trent are one of a small number of trailblazing employers we’re working with to build the evidence on what works in the recruitment and retention of young people. We’re conducting a Randomised Controlled Trial at Severn Trent, testing a promising recruitment/retention intervention and evaluating its impact. The results of this trial will help Severn Trent to strengthen their practices and support the future of their workforce. And we’ll use the robust evidence generated to provide practical guidance for employers across the country, so more young people can access and thrive within employment.

University of Oxford COMPAS

What works for recruitment and retention  · 

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University of Oxford COMPAS
Employer partner

ProgrammeWhat works for recruitment and retention

Location

Evaluators

StatusActive

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About COMPAS

The University of Oxford’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) conducts high-quality research, develops theory and facilitates knowledge exchange in the field of migration. COMPAS research covers a spectrum of global migration processes and phenomena, from conditions in places of migrant origins to institutions and activities that affect mobility to social and economic effects in receiving contexts.

Working with Youth Futures

COMPAS are one of a small number of trailblazing partners we’re working with to build the evidence on what works in the recruitment and retention of young people. We’re conducting a Randomised Controlled Trial with COMPAS, investigating hiring discrimination against young people from marginalised backgrounds. We’ll use the robust evidence generated to provide practical guidance for employers across the country, so more young people can access and thrive within employment.

Kier Group

What works for recruitment and retention  · 

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Kier Group
Employer partner

ProgrammeWhat works for recruitment and retention

Location

Evaluators

StatusActive

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About Kier Group

Kier Group is a leading infrastructure and construction group, with 10,000 colleagues across the UK, including hundreds of young people in early career roles.

Working with Youth Futures

Kier Group is helping build the evidence on what works in the recruitment and retention of young people.

By working with us, Kier not only gains insights to strengthen their practice and support the future of their workforce, but helps create evidence that can be used by employers across the country, so more young people can access and thrive within employment.

What is a Randomised Control Trial?


A Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) is a type of high-quality scientific experiment typically used in medical research. RCTs are considered the “gold standard” for generating evidence, as randomisation attempts to reduce or remove bias, allowing us to rigorously examine the relationship between an intervention and an outcome.