The Employability Skills Employers Say Young People Lack (2026)

Ask employers what holds young recruits back and the answer is rarely the qualification. It's turning up ready to work: managing time, handling pressure, taking feedback, talking to customers. Three major pieces of UK research published in 2026 tell a strikingly consistent story. Here's what employers say young people lack, why it matters for anyone preparing 16 to 24 year olds for work, and what actually helps.

What the 2026 research says

In August 2026 the Department for Work and Pensions published a survey of 500 employers, carried out by IFF Research, on their views of hiring young people. The single biggest challenge employers reported was a perceived lack of soft skills and work readiness (41%), followed closely by limited work experience (40%) and resilience (32%). Around six in ten employers (62%) felt young people were less ready to excel at work than other generations, rising to 72% among small employers.

The Chartered Management Institute's July 2026 report, Bridging the Gap, found an even starker gap in perception. Just 6% of managers said young recruits were ready for work, while 45% of 18 to 24 year olds believed they had entered the workforce with the skills they needed. 61% of managers said younger workers were more likely than other age groups to lack resilience, professionalism, communication skills and the ability to accept and act on feedback.

The skills employers say are missing

1. Managing time and priorities

The Employer Skills Survey 2024, the government's large-scale survey of UK employers, looks at all applicants and staff, not just young people. Even so, its findings line up closely with the youth research. The people and personal skill most often lacking in applicants was managing their own time and prioritising tasks, a factor in 48% of hard-to-fill skill-shortage vacancies. Among existing staff with skills gaps, it was lacking in 57% of cases. Self-management skills overall were behind 68% of skills gaps.

2. Resilience and managing feelings

Managing their own feelings, or handling the feelings of others, was lacking in 37% of skill-shortage vacancies. CMI managers named resilience as the biggest gap among young recruits, and 38% said a lack of resilience was a common reason young staff failed to progress or pass probation.

3. Professional behaviour and feedback

Poor workplace behaviour or etiquette (34%) and poor time-keeping (32%) were among the most common reasons CMI managers gave for young staff not progressing. Being able to hear feedback and act on it, rather than take it personally, came up again and again.

4. Communication, customers and teamwork

Customer handling (36%) and team working (35%) were each lacking in over a third of skill-shortage vacancies. For many young people, their first job is customer-facing, so these skills are tested from day one.

5. Work experience

Relevant work experience was the factor employers were most likely to see as critical or significant when recruiting (61%), ahead of GCSE English and maths (53%). That creates a catch-22 for young people: they need experience to get the job, and the job to get experience.

Why this matters for providers, colleges and schools

Employers are clear about where they think the fix lies. In the DWP survey, 85% agreed there should be more focus on teaching young people soft skills for employment, 89% agreed schools, colleges and sixth forms should provide careers guidance, and 76% said the current curriculum does not prepare young people for work.

For training providers, this is directly linked to retention and achievement. A young apprentice who can't manage a rota, handle a difficult customer or take feedback from a supervisor is far more likely to leave early. We explored that link in our post on why apprentices leave early. It's also part of what Ofsted now evaluates: the renewed further education and skills toolkit asks whether learners and apprentices develop the employability skills and personal attributes they need for their intended job roles. Our guide to building a personal development curriculum for apprentices covers that in detail.

How to close the gap: practical steps

1. Name the skills explicitly. Don't assume time management or professionalism will be picked up along the way. Put them on the curriculum, with clear outcomes.
2. Use real scenarios, not lectures. A rota clash, an angry customer, a missed deadline, harsh feedback from a manager. Short, realistic scenarios let young people practise decisions safely before they face them for real.
3. Teach resilience as a skill. Cover what a tough first month at work feels like, how to recover from mistakes and when to ask for help.
4. Make feedback normal. Build in regular moments where learners give and receive feedback, so it stops feeling like criticism.
5. Create meaningful work experience. Even short, well-structured placements help break the experience catch-22. See our approach to work experience and employer readiness.
6. Bring employers in early. Ask local employers what "work ready" means in their setting, and use their examples in your teaching.
7. Measure confidence before and after. Self-ratings at the start and end of each topic show distance travelled and give learners a voice, which is useful evidence for employers and inspectors alike.

Where Fledglings fits

Fledglings gives young people short, scenario-based modules across four curricula on one platform: employability, confidence and resilience, financial literacy and online safety. The modules are built by people the same age as the learners, so the situations feel like real life rather than a lecture about it.

Every module opens and closes with a self-reflection, giving you distance-travelled evidence and learner voice without extra admin, and engagement can be broken down by cohort for inclusion evidence. In an eight-week closed trial with Swift Childcare, 95% of apprentices' paired before-and-after self-ratings went up. Read about the Swift closed trial, or see how we approach employability skills training for apprentices and the wider youth skills gap.

Many of the young people who lack these skills have never had a job at all. Our guide to NEET young people in 2026 sets out the latest figures and what works to re-engage them.

Common questions

What skills do employers say young people lack?

UK research published in 2026 points to soft skills and work readiness, work experience and resilience as the biggest challenges, alongside professionalism, communication and the ability to accept feedback. Managing time and prioritising tasks is the people skill employers most often find missing in applicants.

Are young people ready for work?

Most employers think not yet. In a 2026 DWP survey, 62% of employers felt young people were less ready to excel at work than other generations, and CMI found just 6% of managers said young recruits were ready for work.

How can colleges and training providers improve employability skills?

Teach self-management, resilience and professional behaviour explicitly, use realistic workplace scenarios, build in feedback and work experience, involve local employers and measure confidence before and after so you can show progress.

Sources

• Department for Work and Pensions: Employer views on hiring young people, survey report (August 2026)
• Chartered Management Institute: Bridging the Gap, supporting a new generation of leaders (July 2026)
• Department for Education: Employer Skills Survey 2024, UK findings (June 2026)