Last week, the Prince’s Trust and the University of Sheffield revealed challenging times for school leavers this summer.
Professor Danny Dorling, from the University of Sheffield, said: “The rate of youth unemployment in the recession to come will depend almost entirely on what opportunities young people are offered.”
The report pointed out that if the number of young people on the dole tips over the one million mark, this summer’s school leavers will be the hardest hit since the 1929 crash.
The latest figures show that the number of young people unemployed neared the one million mark in the three months, while unemployment overall jumped to a 15-year high of 2.43 million.
Meanwhile, in a further blow to young people looking for work, telecoms giant BT has announced it is suspending its graduate recruitment scheme, blaming “headcount pressures” for the move.
The firm also said it could be a while before the scheme is reintroduced.
In a statement, BT said: “In light of the current economic environment and headcount pressures BT has taken the decision to cease graduate recruitment activity and are no longer running a graduate recruitment programme; at the present time, there is no timeline for re-entry.”
BT reported earnings down by 3% to £1.37bn in the three months to the end of June after problems within its global services division.
The company has reduced headcount this year and there are plans for a further 15,000 positions to be eliminated this year.
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