The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) labour market statistics highlight a dramatic deterioration in job prospects for young men in June to August of 2020. The results show that just over 1 in 6 young men (15.7%) 18-24 year olds are already unemployed. Male youth unemployment levels have risen by 33% during the same period, while the youth male unemployment rate has increased by more than 4 percentage points. The other big concern to emerge from these figures is the record increase in redundancies, which will undoubtedly feed into the jobless count in the coming months. 

Gerwyn Davies, Senior Labour Market Adviser at the CIPD, comments: 

“These figures show that male youth employment prospects are fading particularly fast in the face of the pandemic. And the worry is that the situation will get much worse with employment prospects deteriorating rapidly across the board as the Job Retention Scheme closes alongside a swell of school leavers and new graduates who are currently seeking to enter the jobs market.  

"What is clear is that much more immediate public investment for training and re-skilling is required above what has been announced to-date as part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee. This would help workers in manual and elementary occupations in particular, who we know have suffered most from the pandemic develop the skills they need to compete for jobs in parts of the economy that continue to grow.” 

Labour market in the regions of the UK: October 2020