Employer engagement, Recruiting
What Works: Testing employer interventions
By testing employers interventions, we are creating better futures for young people, businesses, and society at large.
The challenge
Too many young people – currently 1 in 8 – are not in work, education, or training. And young people from certain marginalised backgrounds face more challenges than their peers to secure and thrive in good work.
At the same time, businesses are battling to build strong, talented, and sustainable workforces within a tough economic climate.
The opportunity
By recruiting and supporting young people, employers can help create a society where all young people can achieve good work, and secure the talent they need for their future workforce.
By building the evidence base on how employers can recruit and support diverse workforces, we can equip businesses across the country to improve their policies and practices informed by the evidence of what works.
What are we doing?
We’re working to trial promising employment interventions with 14 trailblazing employers by 2028.
Through these trials, we will build understanding of what works, and share practical insights that will benefit employers, young people, and wider society.
We are building partnerships with innovative, socially aware employers to:
- Understand the challenges they face in recruiting young people from marginalised backgrounds.
- Co-design potential solutions.
- Implement these solutions and evaluate whether they work, by conducting Randomised Controlled Trials.
- Understand the outcomes for young people and benefits for the employer, then spread this evidence to inspire widespread practice change.
Benefits for participating employers
Bespoke support
Receive free consultancy-style support to design and implement potential improvements to recruitment and retention practices.
Expert analysis
Benefit from expert analysis to help achieve goals in recruitment, retention, and EDI, and bring diverse talent to your workforce.
Build your reputation
Build your reputation as an innovative employer, committed to the generation of robust evidence.
Social value
Demonstrate a meaningful commitment to social value and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.
“Generating and curating high-quality evidence is at the heart of what we do at Youth Futures Foundation. Through these employer 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
Collaborate with us
We have embarked on a number of exciting partnerships already, but we’re still looking to conduct trials in partnership with more employers.
We’re keen to partner with employers across all sectors who:
Recruit in large volumes
As a rule of thumb, we’re looking to partner with employers with 10,000+ employees.
Are solutions-oriented
Interested and able to make responsive changes to recruitment and retention policies.
